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

ABC Far North; Regional jobs interview

Yesterday’s post on the regional labour force data (read it here) causes a good deal of interest. Pete was interviewed on ABC Far North first thing this morning and the story has been running in their news bulletins since. If you missed it you can listen to it below…

April jobs numbers are horrible for the North

After the disappointing April labour force data for QLD released last week (see here) which saw the State unemployment rate lift to 6.5% we were bracing for some weak regional data today. The reality was worse then we had been expecting. As always when considering the ABS Regional Labour Force …read more

Unemployment rate steady at 5.7% but QLD weaker again

Today’s release of the April Labour Force data from the ABS contains little to surprise at a national level, but the story for the Sunshine State is weaker again. April saw 10,800 new jobs (although these were all part-time with full-time jobs falling by 9,300 seasonally adjusted) and the headline …read more

Regional jobs data is a Tale of 2 Cities in the North

Today’s release of ABS Regional Labour Market data is a very clear tale of two very different cities in the north of the State. Once we have adjusted the raw ABS data, and therefore created the Conus Trend series, we see that Trend Employment in Cairns rose by 400 in …read more

Jobs surprise but QLD bucks the positive trend

The Labour Market data for March released by the ABS this morning showed an unexpectedly strong employment number with a total of 26,100 extra new jobs (although all of them, and more, were part-time with full-time jobs actually declining 8,800). With the Participation Rate stable (64.9) the only cloud on …read more

Dept of Employment Small Area Labour Market data

In all the excitement (?) of the Local Government elections last month we missed the release of the Dec quarter SALM data from the Dept of Employment. The SALM data is based on a range of indicators including ABS Labour Force data for the SA4 areas, youth and Newstart allowance …read more

Cairns Trend employment growth grinds to a halt

The ABS regional labour force data for Feb were released yesterday and, after analysis via the Conus Trend they show Trend employment growth in Cairns having come to a halt. Despite an original unadjusted figure which showed an increase of 600 the Conus Trend saw Trend employment remain static at 108,700 …read more

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