Building Approvals – Queensland has turned the corner (?)

Yesterdays Building Approvals numbers for July were another weak set of data across the nation. Seasonally adjusted approvals fell 9.7% m/m and are now down 28.5% y/y in Australia. The far less volatile (and much prefered) Trend series showed a decline of 3.2% m/m and a drop of 24.0% for …read more

Data shows regional jobseeker numbers continue to decline

The Dept of Social Services data for Newstart and Youth Allownace recipients in July, released yesterday, has allowed us to update our Conus/CBC Staff Selection Jobseeker Trend series for the SA4 regions of Cairns and Townsville. What we see is a continued decline in Trend jobseeker numbers in both regions. …read more

Jobs growth slows in Cairns; Trend unemployment rate still only 4.2%

The release of the original ABS Regional Labour Force data for July allows us to update our Conus/CBC Staff Selection Regional Employment Trend series for the Queensland SA4 regions. While the Trend unemployment rate across QLD increased in July to 6.4% (see here for commentary) our Trend analysis estimates the …read more

Chinese arrivals decline continues

Today saw the release of the June data for short term arrivals and departures from the ABS. It showe that arrivals (seasonally adjusted) were up 2.7% from this time last year, and up 3.2% for the full 12 months. The Trend data showed a 3.1% increase from last year. Arrivals …read more

Labour Force data not good news for Queensland

The ABS release of labour force data for July showed Australia added 41,100 (seasonally adjusted) to total employment with 34,500 in full-time positions. With the participation rate lifting to its highest ever level (66.1) the headline unemployment rate remianed stuck at 5.2%. The Trend series showed 24,600 added to employment …read more

Jobseeker Trend data shows Cairns continues to do well

We have finally got the delayed June Jobseeker data from the Dept of Social Services. The original, unseasonaly adjusted, data allows us to update our Conus/CBC Staff Selection Trend data series which shows us that Trend jobseekers in Cairns are continuing to decline at a faster pace than the State …read more

Updated impacts on Participation Rates across QLD from demographic and propensity effects

Some months ago we considered the impacts of changes in age and sex demographics within the labour force and the impact this was having on Participation Rates across Queensland. You can read the original post here which outlines the methodology used to split out the Propensity and Demographic Impacts within …read more

What’s got more expensive or more affordable over the past 20 years?

Following on from a Tweet I saw today looking at the relative price movements in the US over the past 20 years, I thought I’d do something similar for Australia. The chart below is the result. What we can see is that CPI has increased by almost 69% over the …read more

Cost of Living Indexes; Employees impacted least

Today’s Cost of Living Indexes for the second quarter show that it continues to be those in employment who are being impacted by “cost of living pressures” the least; perhaps just as well given the slow pace of wages growth although worth noting that wages growth in the first quarter was …read more

No joy in Regional Building Approvals data

The release by the ABS of the original regional building approvals data for June allows us to update our own Conus Trend series for all the QLD SA4 regions as well as the LGAs in our area. Doing so provides little joy, although it does support the contention from the …read more

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