Trend Jobseeker data suggests Cairns labour market remains robust

The latest data from the Dept of Social Services of the number claiming Youth and Newstart Allowances in the Cairns region (when seen through the lens of the Conus/CBC Staff Selection Jobseeker Trend) suggests that the labour market in the region remains robust. This despite a slight up-tick in the …read more

Employment continues to lift in Cairns but surging participation sees unemployment rate up

The release by the ABS of the Sept original regional labour force data today allows us to update our Conus/CBC Staff Selection Trend for the QLD regions. With the state-wide Trend unemployment rate lifting to 6.6% (see commentary earlier) it is no surprise to see the Trends at a regional …read more

Major post holiday chart-dump. Employment, Tourism and Regional Building Approvals

We’ve been away for a couple of weeks and, while enjoying the delights of the Canberra Centenary Trail (and Canberra in general), quite a bit of data has landed. So, without wishing to rake over old coals and repeat commentary that you’ve no doubt already seen, I thought it worth …read more

Despite softer labour market, Jobseeker numbers continue to decline

The Dept of Social Services data for Newstart and Youth Allowance recipients in August, released this morning, has allowed us to update our Conus/CBC Staff Selection Jobseeker Trend series for the SA4 regions of Cairns and Townsville. What we see is a continued decline in Trend jobseeker numbers in both …read more

Public Sector employment growth slows again

The release of the June quarter Public Sector work force data shows that the Government’s fiscal principle of keeping full-time equivalent Public Sector employment growth to that of population growth has not been met. However, we need also to note that the Coaldrake Review recommneded, and the Govt accepted, that this target …read more

Regional Trend data sees Cairns moderating as employment gains in the Regions rest largely on Healthcare

Today saw the release of the August ABS regional labour force data which allows us to update our own Conus/CBC Staff Selection Trend series. With the labour data weakening at both national and state level it will come as little surprise that we see a similar picture emerging in the …read more

Income growth in Regional Queensland underperforming Greater Brisbane

Today’s release of the June 2019 Labour Account data series provides a wealth of information. One thing it allows us to do is take a  look at incomes across various industry sectors and how they have changed in the past 12 months. The table below shows, for selected industries, the year-on-year changes …read more

Participation may be at record highs in Australia but it’s a different story in Queensland

There’s been plenty written about the fact that the Participation Rate across Australia is at, or near, record highs and the effect this has had on suppressing unemployment rate declines, even as employment growth remains quite strong (see here for an example from the ABC a few weeks ago). The …read more

Regional Building Approvals show it’s the regions turning QLD around

Last week we noted that the ABS Building Approvals data for July was further evidence of a (very slight) turn-around in the downward Trend in Queensland (see here for details). We noted then that Trend building approvals across the State were up for the 5th month. Today’s release by the …read more

Building Approvals – Queensland has turned the corner (?)

Yesterdays Building Approvals numbers for July were another weak set of data across the nation. Seasonally adjusted approvals fell 9.7% m/m and are now down 28.5% y/y in Australia. The far less volatile (and much prefered) Trend series showed a decline of 3.2% m/m and a drop of 24.0% for …read more

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