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The run of positive months for employment growth in Cairns has now extended to 12 with March adding another 300.
The region has now seen an additional 6,000 people employed in the past year and this month we see (for the first time in a while) that the bulk of the increase comes from full-time positions. While over the course of the last 12 months we see employment up 6,000 we should also note that there are an additional 1,200 people registered as unemployed. This apparent paradox comes not only from the fact that population growth in the region is strong, but also that the participation rate has increased (especially for females) significantly over that period.
As a result, despite employment growth running at 4.4% pa (far stronger than the State 3.4% or National 2.6% rates) we see the unemployment rate has lifted during the year.
The March Trend unemployment rate sits at 4.5% (up from 3.0% in July) which remains higher than the State level (4.1%). Clearly the labour market in Cairns is a little weaker than it was a year ago, but it remains true that this weakness is only marginal with the underlying picture still one of a general tightness. This month’s encouraging data on full-time positions supports that picture of strength.
We are proud to have CBC Staff Selection as supporters of the Conus/CBC Staff Selection Trend Employment and Jobseeker data series