Exceptional results for Cairns in regional Labour Force data…but beware hidden issues

The ABS release of their January original, unadjusted regional Labour Force data this morning allows us to update our own Conus/CBC Staff Selection Regional Employment Trend series; and it holds some surprisingly positive news for Cairns. But first, looking more broadly across the state we see Greater Brisbane has added …read more

What’s driving Participation changes across QLD’s regions? A closer look.

Many commentators have written about movements in the Participation Rate (PR) and the impact this has on unemployment rates; if participation increases then any decline in the unemployment rate is harder to achieve with more people entering the labour force (and vice versa). The discussion is certainly a valid one, but …read more

There’s some good news for QLD in the labour force data

The ABS release of the labour force survey data for Jan gives us our first look at how the employment picture started the year. On a seasonally adjusted basis employment jumped by 39,100 (with full-time positions up 65,400), much stronger than the market expectation of  15,000 increase. An almost-5,000 revision …read more

Short term arrivals data shows Chinese growth slowing further

The ABS Short Term Arrivals data released this morning shows arrivals into Australia running at an annual pace of growth of 4.5% to Dec ’18. Chinese arrivals numbers, having been the leading light for so long, have continued to see their pace of growth slow and they are now increasing …read more

Pete talking jobs, jobseekers and the improving employment landscape in Cairns

Pete spoke to John MacKenzie on radio 4CA this morning about the Conus/CBC Staff Selection Jobseeker Trend data, unemployment rates and the improving employment landscape in Cairns. You can hear it below….

Queensland Gross State Product lifts on the back of stronger net exports

The release by Queensland Treasury of the State Accounts for the third quarter of 2018 appeared recently. While the ABS produce Gross State Product (GSP) data only on an annual basis at the June quarter, the QLD Treasury produce quarterly Trend estimates (albeit rather delayed). We have previously seen some …read more

Talking regional Building Approvals on ABC Far North

Pete spoke to Kier Shorey on ABC Far North this morning about the regional building approvals data released yesterday (see here for our commentary) and in particular the impact the slowdown is having on construction employment in Townsville. You can hear the interview below.

Horrible set of regional Building Approvals data; Townsville is through the floor

The ABS have released their original, unadjusted December residential building approvals data for the regions this morning which allows us to update our own Conus Regional Building Approval Trend series. Given the poor showing at the state and national level that we saw last week, which showed a trend decline …read more

Slight uptick in Trend Jobseekers in Cairns suggest unemployment rate likely to be revised higher

The latest Dept of Social services data for jobseekers in the Cairns and Townsville regions allows us to update our Conus/CBC Staff Selection Trend Jobseeker data set. This shows a small uptick in the total number of Jobseekers in both regions. Cairns now sits at 8,896 (up from an upwardly …read more

Sharp drop in Cairns unemployment rate as participation falls

The release by the ABS of the original December regional labour force data allows us to update our own Conus/CBC Staff Selection Employment Trend series for the SA4 regions in QLD. What we see, once again, is the regions doing better than Greater Brisbane. With the ABS Trend unemployment rate …read more

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