Category Archives: Labour market

IR reforms could improve employment opportunities for young Australians

Posted on July 18, 2016 by Gene Tunny

Almost eight years after the 2008 financial crisis, young Australians still face a significantly tougher job market than before the crisis. To illustrate, the employment-to-population ratio for young Australians aged 15 to 24 remains well below rates experienced prior to … Continue reading →

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Qld unemployment rate creeps up to 6.5 percent due to ongoing weakness in regions

Posted on July 14, 2016 by Gene Tunny

NAB Chief Economist Alan Oster had a memorable quote regarding the latest NAB Business Survey results published in The Australian yesterday: “West Australia is going backwards, South Australia is in no great shakes and Northern Queensland is just as bad, … Continue reading →

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Recommended reading: The Industries of the Future by Alec Ross

Posted on July 5, 2016 by Gene Tunny

Our embattled Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was at least right about the importance of innovation, even if that message did not resonate with voters in Western Sydney, Tasmania and other regions where the Coalition suffered heavy losses. One of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, Macroeconomy, Productivity, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Economic conditions partly responsible for return of Pauline Hanson and One Nation

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Gene Tunny

Dennis Atkins had an excellent column in the Sunday Mail yesterday analysing the return of Pauline Hanson and One Nation, noting that One Nation voters had: “…rejected the Turnbull mantra of embracing the future because of anxiety about the cost … Continue reading →

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Stark difference in unemployment rates between resources regions and rest of Qld

Posted on June 26, 2016 by Gene Tunny

The Queensland branch of the Economic Society of Australia, of which I am the Secretary, was fortunate last Tuesday to host a presentation by Queensland Treasury official Greg Uptin on the economic forecasts underpinning the 2016-17 Queensland Budget. Greg gave … Continue reading →

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Workforce participation drops as Qld economy under-performs

Posted on June 17, 2016 by Gene Tunny

Far North Queensland-based economist Pete Faulkner published a great analysis of the ABS labour force estimates for May on his blog yesterday (Jobs data in Qld is poor again): Unfortunately the picture in Queensland continues to be a weaker one. … Continue reading →

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Guest post: Why are NSW mining regions enduring the mining downturn better than Qld regions?

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Gene Tunny

Today I am delighted to publish a guest post from my NSW-based friend and fellow economist Alistair Robson.  Why are NSW mining regions enduring the mining downturn better than Qld regions? by Dr Alistair Robson Despite the Sydney-centric focus on … Continue reading →

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Regional Qld still suffering from mining downturn and drought

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Gene Tunny

ABS regional labour force data for April reveal increasing unemployment in regional Queensland, particularly in Townsville and the Queensland outback, as regional Queensland endures the mining downturn and drought. Unemployment in the Queensland outback was at 10.4% in April, up … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, North Queensland, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Qld unemployment rate trends up and jobs trend down

Posted on May 20, 2016 by Gene Tunny

The April 2016 ABS jobs data confirm the view I have expressed for a while now that the Queensland economy is under-performing (see charts below and Treasury’s brief). While in South-East Queensland conditions appear reasonable, the regions are struggling with … Continue reading →

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Go Qld campaign moves on to attack payroll tax and penalty rates

Posted on May 3, 2016 by Gene Tunny

The Courier-Mail’s terrific “Go Queensland” campaign has today moved on to the issues of payroll tax and penalty rates, both of which I covered in my paper for the Jobs Growth Summit last week (see related post). I am quoted … Continue reading →

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