For the fifth consecutive month Trend employment in Cairns lifted again in August (+600), although we remain 2.1% down from a year ago. The growth was split between full-time and part-time employment, although full-time employment is still down for the year. Once again most of the full-time gains came from …read more
Despite a string of interest rate hikes that took the Cash Rate from 0.1% to 4.1%, the real estate market in Cairns has remained remarkably robust. In the 7+ years since June 2016 rents for both 3-bed houses and 2-bed units have increased by about 45%, while median prices for …read more
The data from Cairns Airport for July shows a very solid pick up in both international and domestic passenger numbers. Our Trend estimate suggests that total monthly numbers are now approaching 400,000 which is only 7.5% below pre-COVID levels at this time of year. Most of this shortfall is from …read more
Data for the May 2023 quarter shows that while Public Sector employment across the nation has remained relatively static over recent quarters, here in Queensland there has been a distinct move up. Since August 2014 Public Sector employment across Australia has grown by 37.8%, far outstripping the Private Sector which …read more
We were fortunate to co-author the Queensland: Future State Report for ANZ with Gene Tunny from Adept Economics. The report was launched in Brisbane on Tuesday by ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott. The report has garnered plenty of interest and you can download it from the ANZ Bluenotes website here.
A move lower in participation over recent months, combined with some healthy employment growth, has seen the Trend unemployment rate in Cairns move lower and hit a record low of just 3.0%. Even with this move down in participation, the labour market still looks very strong. Growth in Female participation …read more
The latest domestic tourism expenditure snapshot data from Tourism Research Australia for June shows that the boom in domestic tourism, particularly across Regional Queensland, remains well in place. The monthly snapshot expenditure data is no more granular than “Regional QLD” and “Greater Brisbane and Gold Coast”, so we cannot say …read more
The second quarter GDP data released this morning was broadly in line with expectations with a 0.9% q/q increase on the back of the previous quarter’s 0.7% increase (actually revised slightly down from +0.8%, but Q4 2021 was revised up) which leaves us 3.6% up from the same period a …read more
The July ABS Labour Force data released this morning allows us to update the Conus/CBC Staff Selection Regional Employment Trend data for all of Queensland’s regions. Despite the (seasonally adjusted) employment data at the State level showing a decline in employment of 6,200 for the month, Cairns managed to record …read more
The data for the second quarter CPI shows (as generally expected) that inflation has moved further above the RBA’s target range of 2-3%. Headline CPI was up 1.8% q/q for a y/y increase of 6.1% (up from 5.2% in the March quarter). The RBA’s Core inflation measure also increased; up …read more