Female Labour Force Participation in Northern Australia: A Transformative Shift

If you would rather listen to an AI-generated podcast about this analysis you can! Listen here. Introduction The success of Northern Australia’s development hinges on effectively harnessing its human capital. Our research reveals a critical, and often underestimated, factor in this equation: the dramatic increase in female labour force participation …read more

JobSeeker data hints at the easing of the labour market

While the Trend unemployment rate in Australia remains remarkably stable (stuck between 4.0% and 4.1% for more than a year), we are seeing some clear signs of the gradual easing in the labour market coming from the JobSeeker data. In March the Conus Trend estimate for JobSeekers edged higher to …read more

Queensland’s economy grew 2.1% in FY 23/24

While the nation’s economy (GDP) grew by just 1.5% in the financial year 2023/24, today’s State Accounts release from the ABS shows that Queensland achieved a healthier result. Gross State Product increased by 2.1%. Over the past 4 years while GDP has risen 11.4%, Queensland’s GSP is up a rather …read more

Average Income in Cairns grows faster than nationally, but slower than Queensland

The quarterly Labour Account data from the ABS showed that in the year to June 2024 average income across Australia grew at 2.8% yy. In Queensland (based on Conus analysis of the Labour Account and the split of industry employment relative to the nation) we estimate the figure was a …read more

Queensland Building Approvals finally turning around

For the first time since Feb 2023 Residential Building Approvals in Queensland are up a year-on-year basis (+3.9%) having now risen for each of the past 4 months. While they still remain at historically low levels, this is a much better performance than at the national level where approvals remain …read more

Tourism in the Far North

The data from Cairns Airport for July shows a very solid pick up in both international and domestic passenger numbers. Our Trend estimate suggests that total monthly numbers are now approaching 400,000 which is only 7.5% below pre-COVID levels at this time of year. Most of this shortfall is from …read more

Public Sector employment picks up in Queensland

Data for the May 2023 quarter shows that while Public Sector employment across the nation has remained relatively static over recent quarters, here in Queensland there has been a distinct move up. Since August 2014 Public Sector employment across Australia has grown by 37.8%, far outstripping the Private Sector which …read more

Domestic Tourism in Regional Queensland still very strong

The latest domestic tourism expenditure snapshot data from Tourism Research Australia for June shows that the boom in domestic tourism, particularly across Regional Queensland, remains well in place. The monthly snapshot expenditure data is no more granular than “Regional QLD” and “Greater Brisbane and Gold Coast”, so we cannot say …read more

2nd Quarter GDP +0.9% q/q, +3.6% y/y. 2021/22 +3.9%

The second quarter GDP data released this morning was broadly in line with expectations with a 0.9% q/q increase on the back of the previous quarter’s 0.7% increase (actually revised slightly down from +0.8%, but Q4 2021 was revised up) which leaves us 3.6% up from the same period a …read more

Cairns adds to Trend employment again. Unemployment rate at just 4.8%

The July ABS Labour Force data released this morning allows us to update the Conus/CBC Staff Selection Regional Employment Trend data for all of Queensland’s regions. Despite the (seasonally adjusted) employment data at the State level showing a decline in employment of 6,200 for the month, Cairns managed to record …read more

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