Cairns Trend employment up but unemployment rate also lifts as participation soars

The Conus/CBC Staff Selection Trend data for June shows employment in Cairns lifted to another new record high with an additional 500 people in work since last month. The annual increase is now 10,800, or 8.3%. However, despite the lift in the number employed a jump in participation to another …read more

Domestic Tourism in TNQ hits new highs

Today’s release by Tourism Research Australia of the National Visitor Survey for the year to March 2022 confirms what those living up here have known for some time (and we’ve been writing about for the past two years); domestic tourism in the Far North has been going gangbusters! Domestic tourism …read more

Despite rental shortages Census shows unoccupied properties up sharply in Cassowary Coast and Port Douglas

We’ve heard, and written, plenty about the shortage of rental properties in the Far North. The rental vacancy rate in the Cairns region currently sits at a record low 0.5% and rents on houses and units are up 15-18% for the year. Nevertheless, the 2021 Census shows a sharp increase …read more

First look at the 2021 Census shows Cairns-North was the standout area for growth

The ABS has started its staged release of 2021 Census data this morning; we will see further releases throughout the rest of this year and into early 2023. There is, obviously, an enormous range of data available from the Census so this first look we have focused on just two …read more

Queensland Public Service employment details March 2022

The biannual report on the status of the Queensland Public Service workforce for March 2022 shows that Public Service headcount grew by 1.9% y/y and now represents 10.5% (its lowest level since March 2016) of the total number employed in the State. Over the course of the year total employment …read more

Another strong labour market report

The Australian labour market strengthened again in May. Employment lifted by 60,600 (with an increase in full-time positions of 69,400) and the unemployment rate remained steady at 3.9%. The fact that hours worked per capital rose by 0.8% m/m and now sits at a 11-year high of 88 hrs/capita indicates …read more

Change to Conus Trend and Seasonal Adjustment series

Up to now Conus has used X-12-ARIMA for the seasonal adjustment and trend estimation of a variety of regional data sets, including the Conus/CBC Staff Selection Regional Employment data. X-12-ARIMA was the successor to the X-11 method implemented by the US Census Bureau and is used by many statistical agencies …read more

Almost 300 new businesses in Cairns in the past year

Latest data from the ABS for the 2020/21 financial year shows the total number of businesses in the Cairns Regional Council area grew by 289 over the past year. If we compare to the most recent pre-COVID data (i.e. 2018/19) we see 229 more businesses. Between 2019 and 2021 the …read more

Unemployment hits new lows

The unemployment rate in April has hit its lowest level since mid-1974 at just 3.9% (March was revised down from 4.0% to 3.9%) as another 4,000 were added to those employed. However, of real note was a huge jump in full-time positions (up 92,400) which saw total hours worked up …read more

Cairns Trend employment hits record highs in March

The ABS original regional labour force data released today allows us to update the Conus/CBC Staff Selection Regional Employment Trend. This shows that Trend employment in Cairns increased in March by another 1,800 and for the first time ever now sits above 141,000 (actually 141,100). Despite the Participation Rate once …read more

© Conus Business Consultancy Services 2023

Website created by RJ New Designs