Another strong jobs report…but this one comes from pre-Omicron days

The Labour Force survey result for December, released this morning, relates to a period just before the full effect of the unfolding Omicron outbreak was felt and just as many States (notably NSW and Victoria) were starting to open up again. As a result the fact that it shows a …read more

Improving Building Approvals in QLD being driven by Greater Brisbane

Last week’s building approvals data showed approvals in November across Australia remained down 7.7% from a  year earlier. In Queensland the result was better with a 5.0% increase. However, the data today of the regional breakdown of those numbers, when seen through the lens of the Conus Trend, show that …read more

Queensland building approvals jump 20% in Nov

Residential Building Approvals data for November shows Queensland registered a 20.0% jump on the back of strong unit approvals. From a year ago approvals are up 5.0% although house approvals remain down 14.0% and units are up 61.7%. Across the nation total approvals rose 3.6% for the month and are …read more

QLD Public Service employment up 1.9% in year to Sept

The biannual QLD Public Service workforce statistics were released yesterday (presumably so that they were over-shadowed by the Budget update) and they show Public Service full-time-equivalent (FTE) employment up by 1.9% for the year to Sept. If we ignore the increases in Health and Education (as the Coaldrake Review suggests …read more

Big jump in employment; QLD records lowest unemployment rate since Feb 2009

A sharp jump in employment, as lock-downs ended in NSW and Victoria, has seen the nation’s headline unemployment rate fall back to 4.6%. Australia added 366,100 to the number employed in November and despite a sharp rise in participation (to 66.1) this managed to translate into an unemployment rate of …read more

Queensland building approvals nudge higher

Data for October shows building approvals across the country fell by 12.9% m/m and are now down 8.1% from a year ago. The decline is being lead by unit approvals which are down 15.1% y/y while house have fallen just 4.4%. In Queensland total approvals edged higher in October by …read more

Not much change in Far North labour market in October

Despite large falls in employment nationally (and to a lesser degree in Queensland), the North of the State appears to have escaped relatively unscathed this month. The Conus/CBC Staff Selection Trend series shows trend employment in Cairns fell 400 (with all the losses coming from part-time positions) while Townsville added …read more

Labour Force data disappoints…but there are some confusing factors still at play

There had been expectation that, after a sharp fall in employment in Sept, that there might have been an uptick in October as the lockdowns in NSW and Victoria started to relax. In reality employment fell again (by 46,300) and the unemployment rate climbed to 5.2% (from 4.6%) as people …read more

Building Approvals fall again in the North

Given the declines we saw in residential building approvals at both the national and State level last week (see here for details) it should come as no surprise to see a similar pattern emerge in the North. However, what today’s release by the ABS of more granular original regional data …read more

NSW, VIC and ACT lockdowns hit QLD tourism

Tourism Research Australia have just released their monthly snapshot domestic tourism data for August (see here) which clearly shows the effect of the lockdowns in NSW, Victoria and the ACT. Across the nation domestic tourism expenditure fell by 12.4% from a year earlier with a decline of almost 80% in …read more

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