Focus on youth jobs

Our recent posts on youth unemployment (see here for an example) have certainly created some interest. John McCarthy from the Courier Mail spoke to me on Sunday which resulted in an article in the paper on Monday, which was also picked up by The Cairns Post; it quoted extensively from …read more

Jobs data disappoints for QLD again

The June labour force data released by the ABS today shows the headline (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate nudged slightly higher to 5.8% (from 5.7%) on the back of a lift in the Participation Rate to 64.9, despite steady jobs growth of +7,900. Also on the plus-side was upward revisions to …read more

ABS changes to Labour Force data from 2013 still distorting Cairns youth data?

There has been much talk recently about the very high level of youth unemployment in the Cairns region; and rightly so. We’ve been taking a close look at the issue for some time and believe that the Conus Trend data series we’ve developed gives us the best and clearest picture …read more

How to use and abuse statistics; a lesson from both LNP and ALP

My previous posts on the levels of youth unemployment in the Queensland regions has certainly created some interest. In a story in today’s Courier Mail both sides of the political divide have attempted to use the original, unadjusted ABS data on youth jobs to score points. As is too often …read more

Taking a look at unemployment rates throughout Queensland by age

We have been working on completing the data set for Conus Trend unemployment rates for all the SA4 regions in Queensland by age groups and have now completed it. What the full data set shows us is an interesting look into the make-up of the unemployment challenge facing the State. …read more

Full-time, Part-time Trend employment data for Cairns

For some time we have been meaning to take a closer look at the split between Full-time and Part-time Trend employment in the Cairns SA4 data; and today we’ve found the time to do it. (For details of Cairns and other QLD regions Conus Trend employment data see here). We’ve …read more

Both Cairns and Townsville see labour markets deteriorating in May

Today saw the release of the ABS regional labour market data from which we have created our Conus Trend series data. Despite anecdotal evidence of improvements in the Cairns region (particularly in the tourism sector), the Trend jobs data deteriorated further in May; as it did in Townsville. The two …read more

Jobs data in QLD is poor….again

The ABS Labour Force data for May shows a total of 17,900 new jobs in the nation, although all of them were part-time with full-time numbers static. The headline unemployment rate remained stable at 5.7%. However, virtually all of the reported gains in April were revised away with the previous …read more

Small Area Labour Market data confirms the weaker NQ picture; Townsville losing work force

The release by the Dept of Employment of their Small Area Labour Market (SALM) data for the first quarter to March 2016 confirms the weaker story that we’ve been seeing in North Queensland for a while. The SALM data is based on a range of indicators including ABS Labour Force …read more

Is the Townsville unemployment rate 13.9%, 10.5% or 8.9%? Answer…probably none of those

Lots of commentary about the terrible jobs data for April in Townsville released by the ABS on Thursday (see here). The “original”, unadjusted data from the ABS (and the only series for the regional data that they produce) had the unemployment rate at 13.9%. Our own Conus Trend came in …read more

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