Strong jobs numbers but full-time in QLD are at a standstill

The ABS has shocked the markets with some very strong jobs numbers for May. The headline (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate has fallen to 5.5% (its lowest level since Feb 2013) on the addition of a thumping 42,000 new jobs. The markets had been expecting the unemployment rate to stay at …read more

The Participation Puzzle; the impact of demographic changes

Many commentators have written about movements in the Participation Rate (PR) and the impact this can have on unemployment rates (one such recent example from Nick Behrens at QEAS). The discussion is certainly a valid one, but in this post we want to try and dig a little deeper into what …read more

Pete on radio 4CA this morning talking regional jobs and “lifestylepreneurs”

Pete spoke to John MacKenzie on radio 4CA this morning about jobs in Cairns. They also touched on a presentation in Cairns this morning from well-known commentator Bernard Salt in which he highlighted Cairns opportunities in embracing the growing trend for what he calls “lifestylepreneurs”. I’ll be posting in more …read more

Conus Trend Regional Jobs data for NSW now available

We have today released the Conus Trend Regional Jobs data for NSW. The full data-set is available for download below (and on our Reports page with all our other Trend data). Please feel free to use the data (for non-commercial purposes) but we would appreciate you acknowledging Conus when you …read more

Regional Jobs shows Cairns slightly weaker; Townsville further improved

Today’s ABS regional labour force data for April needs to be looked at through the lens of the Conus Trend to make any real sense. What the data shows us is Cairns slightly weaker while Townsville continues its trend of improvements (from a low base). The Conus Trend unemployment rate …read more

Pete on ABC North QLD talking Townsville and regional jobs data

Pete spoke to Pat Hession on ABC North QLD this afternoon about Townsville industry data and regional jobs data in general. You can listen below.

New Conus Industry Trend data shows the problems Townsville faces

Each quarter the ABS produce data showing the levels of employment in each industry for the various labour force regions. Unfortunately this data is only provided on an unadjusted, 4-quarters average basis and as a result is a very lagged indicator. So, in the same way that we have been …read more

QLD unemployment rate stays static, but this is a strong report for the State

Today saw the release of the ABS Labour Force data for April and it came in well above market expectations. Total employment (seasonally adjusted) rose 37,400 (expected +4-5,000) with the headline unemployment rate falling to 5.7% (from 5.9%). Unlike March, when the gains all came in the full-time sector, April …read more

Media still pushing old news about unemployment in Cairns

A piece in today’s Australian (read it here) perpetuates the old news that youth unemployment in Cairns is running at crisis levels. In this case the article quotes Cairns youth unemployment rate at 27.5%. As regular readers will know, this figure would appear to be the “official” 12 month moving …read more

Jobs data makes for interesting reading

We’ve just returned from a couple of weeks in SE Asia so have some catching up to do. First thing on the agenda was the labour force data for March released last week. We saw the headline (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate remain stable at 5.9% despite a very sharp addition …read more

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