Female Labour Force Participation in Northern Australia: A Transformative Shift

If you would rather listen to an AI-generated podcast about this analysis you can! Listen here. Introduction The success of Northern Australia’s development hinges on effectively harnessing its human capital. Our research reveals a critical, and often underestimated, factor in this equation: the dramatic increase in female labour force participation …read more

Unemployment rate drops to 4.0% in Cairns

The extended run of positive employment growth in Cairns continued in March. The region has seen an additional 3,800 people employed in the past year. While over the course of the last 12 months we see employment up we should note that there are also fewer people registered as unemployed. …read more

JobSeeker data hints at the easing of the labour market

While the Trend unemployment rate in Australia remains remarkably stable (stuck between 4.0% and 4.1% for more than a year), we are seeing some clear signs of the gradual easing in the labour market coming from the JobSeeker data. In March the Conus Trend estimate for JobSeekers edged higher to …read more

Cairns Airport passengers up again

While the base, unseasonally adjusted data from Cairns Airport for February shows total passenger numbers were low the Conus Trend hit highs not seen since the middle of 2019. The Trend in February hit 429,004; you have to go back to August 2019 to find a level this high and …read more

Cairns Trend Employment

The extended run of positive employment growth in Cairns continues this month with another 200 added. The region has now seen an additional 4,800 people employed in the past year. Again, this month we see the increase all coming from full-time positions. While over the course of the last 12 …read more

Cairns unemployment rate falls (again) to 4.3%

The extended run of positive employment growth continues for Cairns this month with another 400 added. The region has now seen an additional 5,200 people employed in the past year and this month (once again) we see the increase all coming from full-time positions. While over the course of the …read more

Queensland’s economy grew 2.1% in FY 23/24

While the nation’s economy (GDP) grew by just 1.5% in the financial year 2023/24, today’s State Accounts release from the ABS shows that Queensland achieved a healthier result. Gross State Product increased by 2.1%. Over the past 4 years while GDP has risen 11.4%, Queensland’s GSP is up a rather …read more

Cairns JobSeekers starting to edge higher

We are finally seeing some increase in the number of JobSeekers in the Cairns region. Having sat between 15,500 and 16,000 for more than a year, the October data confirms a gradual increase having been in place in the Trend since July. Trend JobSeekers now sit at 16,399 (its highest …read more

Market not pricing first cut until well into 2025

As we noted last week following the release of the third quarter CPI data, the RBA are clearly in no hurry to start cutting rates. Their recently released Statement on Monetary Policy (SOMP) starts out with a clear message… “Underlying inflation remains too high. Headline inflation has fallen sharply in …read more

Inflation slows, but RBA unlikely to rush rate cuts

Today’s release of the third quarter CPI data was broadly in line with market expectations. Headline CPI fell to 2.8% (which is just inside the RBA’s 2-3% target range) but the more closely watched Trimmed Mean (core inflation) remained somewhat elevated at 3.5%. The reason the RBA will be focused …read more

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