Dept of Employment data confirms improvements in the Far North

Last week saw the release of the Dept of Employment Small Area Labour Market data for the March quarter. This series is based on ABS data as well as Centrelink and Census data and is the only reliable source of unemployment information at a Local Government Area level. However, the …read more

Strong jobs numbers but full-time in QLD are at a standstill

The ABS has shocked the markets with some very strong jobs numbers for May. The headline (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate has fallen to 5.5% (its lowest level since Feb 2013) on the addition of a thumping 42,000 new jobs. The markets had been expecting the unemployment rate to stay at …read more

QLD Budget downgrades growth forecasts. Is Debbie to blame?

Today’s QLD Budget 2017-18 has downgraded growth forecasts across the forward years and is, to an extent and quite openly, laying the blame at the feet of TC Debbie for the slowdown. The Budget papers say “Queensland growth forecasts for 2016-17 and 2017-18 would have been higher, but for the impact …read more

International Tourism arrivals continue to grow but China is slowing

The ABS Short Term Arrivals and Departures data for April shows arrivals up 10.1% from a year ago to a total for the 12 months of almost 8.5 million. However, the crucial Chinese market (which accounts for 14.7% of all arrivals) has seen growth slow significantly. Trend growth in Chinese …read more

Pete talking TNQ tourism numbers on ABC Far North & 4CA

Kier Shorey at ABC Far North, and John MacKenzie from 4CA, both spoke to Pete this morning about yesterday’s International Visitor Survey and what it held for TNQ. You can listen below, and read yesterday’s analysis on the IVS here. Yesterday also saw the GDP release and, as usual, this …read more

International tourism grows but QLD and TNQ are both falling behind

Today’s release by TRA of the International Visitor Survey for March 2017 (available here) shows international visitors up by 9.2% y/y with expenditure up 8.1%. Numbers to Queensland were also up strongly (+6.8%), although expenditure rose just 2.6% y/y. However, as a result the Sunshine State’s share of the international …read more

GDP slows (as expected) while QLD grinds to a halt

The ABS have released the GDP data for the first quarter of 2017. After a strong Q4 last year (unrevised at +1.1% q/q) Q1 is up just 0.3% q/q, +1.7% y/y and +2.3% annualised. This is result is in line with market expectations, although stronger than some had been expecting; …read more

Regional Building Approvals offer no joy to the North

Today sees the release of the April regional Building Approvals data from the ABS. As always we focus on the Conus Trend data series rather than the highly volatile original series as presented by the ABS. Looking at the SA4 level first, we see Cairns approvals stable at a Trend …read more

The Participation Puzzle; the impact of demographic changes

Many commentators have written about movements in the Participation Rate (PR) and the impact this can have on unemployment rates (one such recent example from Nick Behrens at QEAS). The discussion is certainly a valid one, but in this post we want to try and dig a little deeper into what …read more

CAPEX up just 0.3% q/q as WA drags the figures down

Total actual private sector capital expenditure (CAPEX) in the first quarter was up just 0.3% q/q for a decline of 9.3% over the year (seasonally adjusted chain volume). But the falls are really all down to WA where actual CAPEX has tumbled 32.6% over the year. The only other state …read more

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