Category Archives: Labour market

Upcoming public lecture by Bob Gregory on the gender pay gap

Posted on September 8, 2015 by Gene Tunny

The upcoming John Western Public Lecture at the University of Queensland (on Monday 21 September at 5pm) by eminent Australian economist Bob Gregory looks very interesting and no doubt will provoke much discussion on the causes of the gender pay … Continue reading →

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Health, aged care & tourism will generate jobs in Qld at the end of the mining boom

Posted on August 28, 2015 by Gene Tunny

At the end of the mining boom, as capital expenditure plummets (chart above) from an elevated level, and ten thousand new jobs expected in the Galilee basin now appear unlikely, it is probably not surprising that some commentators are getting … Continue reading →

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Very high youth unemployment in North Qld and Wide Bay region

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Gene Tunny

Young people, many of who may be trying to enter the workforce for the first time, are usually disproportionately affected when the economy slows down. Relatively weak conditions in regional Queensland, which I discussed in my last post, have contributed … Continue reading →

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Big divide between SEQ and rest of Qld in jobs growth

Posted on August 16, 2015 by Gene Tunny

Looking at the data in Queensland Treasury’s latest briefing on regional employment, it appears that the bulk of jobs growth that is occurring in Queensland is occurring in the South-East, particularly on the Gold Coast, and many parts of regional … Continue reading →

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Great RBA speech highlighting new labour market flexibility and links with NZ labour market

Posted on August 15, 2015 by Gene Tunny

The Queensland Branch of the Economic Society of Australia, of which I’m the Secretary, was delighted yesterday to host a speech by the Assistant Governor (Economic) of the Reserve Bank of Australia Christopher Kent on Adjustments in the Labour Market. … Continue reading →

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Private sector earnings stagnate in Qld at end of the mining boom

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Gene Tunny

New ABS data released yesterday show that average weekly ordinary time earnings in the Queensland private sector fell slightly, by 0.4 per cent, through-the-year to May 2015, no doubt associated with the loss of high-paying jobs in the resources sector … Continue reading →

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PC concludes there are some adverse employment impacts from minimum wage increases

Posted on August 5, 2015 by Gene Tunny

The President of the Queensland Council of Unions is reported in the Brisbane Times this morning as noting “There is no empirical evidence that cutting wages creates more jobs” (Qld unions to make penalty rates election battlefield). In my view, … Continue reading →

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RBA to address ESA Qld seminar on recent labour market developments

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Gene Tunny

As Australia has experienced below-trend economic growth recently, and the unemployment rate has crept up to around 6 per cent, reducing the bargaining power of employees, wages growth has fallen (chart above). This in turn has contributed to relatively low … Continue reading →

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Pockets of very high unemployment in Logan, Brisbane South West and Ipswich

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Gene Tunny

I’ve produced the map of unemployment rates for local areas in the Brisbane metro area below based on the latest small area labour markets data for March 2015 from the federal Department of Employment. The data show that pockets of … Continue reading →

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Cafe culture & tourism helping Qld endure end of mining boom

Posted on June 19, 2015 by Gene Tunny

May 2015 employment-by-industry data published by the ABS yesterday confirm some points I’ve been making for the last couple of months (see chart above), particularly that Queensland is enduring the shock from the end of the mining boom relatively well, … Continue reading →

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