No sign of good news in Building Apps for the Far North

Today’s release of the regional building approvals data for November from the ABS doesn’t provide any good news for our region (not surprising given the general weakness at a state level seen last week…see here for details). The unadjusted regional data is best seen through the prism of the Conus …read more

Dept of Social Service data slow to show improvements

Our own Conus Trend series for Cairns SA4, based on the original ABS regional data, showed another reduction in Trend unemployment in November to 6.3%. The Dept of Social Security payment recipients data released just before Christmas appears somewhat less positive. Recipient numbers in the region nudged up slightly, although the Conus …read more

HTW Cairns Watch even more bullish on jobs data than Conus

Last week we released our Conus Trend data for all the Queensland regions and our estimate of a Trend unemployment rate in Cairns of 6.3% raised a few eyebrows. However, the latest release by Rick Carr, at Herron Todd White, of his Cairns Watch report is even more bullish (download …read more

Stellar results for Cairns as Trend unemployment rate moves below Rest of QLD

The ABS original data for regional labour force was released this morning (along with some adjustments caused by the labour force re-benchmarking released earlier this month) and, as always, we need to consider this highly volatile data set in light of the Conus Trend to make much sense of it. …read more

Dept of Employment SALM data for Sept quarter shows Townsville weak (again)

The release by the Dept of Employment of their Small Area Labour Market (SALM) data for the third quarter to Sept 2016 confirms the weaker story that we’ve been seeing in Townsville. The SALM data is based on a range of indicators including ABS Labour Force data for the SA4 areas, …read more

Regional Building Approvals fall in Oct

ABS released their monthly unadjusted regional building approvals data for October this morning and we have updated our own Conus Trend series. Given the declines at a state level it is little surprise to see Trend approvals in our region also falling. At the SA4 level we see Cairns Trend …read more

Dept of Social Security payment recipients data not as bullish on Cairns

Our own Conus Trend series for Cairns SA4, based on the original ABS regional data, showed a reduction in Trend unemployment in October to 7.3%. The Dept of Social Security payment recipients data released on Weds appears somewhat less positive. Although recipient numbers fell the Conus Trend series showed a …read more

Regional jobs; better still for Cairns while Townsville sinks further

The release today by the ABS of their original, unadjusted regional labour force data allows us to update our own Conus Trend series. What we see is (again) confirmation of the improving story in Cairns but, unfortunately, a reversal of the brighter picture for Townsville that we noted (and questioned!) …read more

Pete talking QLD jobs data on ABC Far North

Kier Shorey from ABC Far North spoke to Pete this morning about yesterday’s labour force data for Queensland (you can read yesterday’s commentary below). Later in the morning Kier also spoke to QLD Treasurer Curtis Pitt and I was struck by Pitt’s contention that the Participation Rate “goes up and …read more

Regional Building Approvals slow down in the North

ABS data this morning for residential Building Approvals in the Far North paint another disappointing picture after a weak month previously (see here). The original data for September shows that an apparent slight recovery in Townsville in August was merely a blip, and the ongoing weaker numbers elsewhere continue. As …read more

© Conus Business Consultancy Services 2026

Website created by RJ New Designs