Category Archives: Labour market

Gold Coast outlook continues to improve

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Gene Tunny

After a period of weakness following the financial crisis, during which many Gold Coast tradies had to drive up the M1 every day to jobs in Brisbane and Ipswich (see my 2011 post Tradies know what it means to live in … Continue reading →

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More CSG-LNG jobs than previously forecast, but minerals job vacancies have plummeted

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Yesterday I attended the Energy Skills Queensland (ESQ) Annual Conference at the Royal International Convention Centre at the RNA Showgrounds in Brisbane. At the Conference, ESQ released its Queensland CSG to LNG Industry Workforce Plan, which received coverage from ABC … Continue reading →

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Speech to UQ Economics School Scholarships and Awards night

Posted on October 29, 2013 by Gene Tunny

I was honoured to address the University of Queensland School of Economics’s Scholarships and Awards Night tonight. Below are my prepared remarks. I varied them slightly in the delivery, and cut a couple of paragraphs, but this is more or … Continue reading →

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Grattan joins fight against stamp duty

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Leading Australian think tank the Grattan Institute has joined the fight against stamp duty on property transactions (see Renovating housing policy and Jessica Irvine’s article). Grattan notes (on p.32): Stamp duty and pension asset tests create large disincentives to households … Continue reading →

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Qld unemployment rate stable at 6 per cent

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Gene Tunny

The September 2013 labour force data are out, and they show the Queensland unemployment rate is stable at around 6 per cent (see chart below). While high relative to the pre-financial crisis period when unemployment fell below 4 per cent, … Continue reading →

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Low level of vacancies suggests sluggish labour market to continue in short-term

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Gene Tunny

There doesn’t appear to be any recovery in Queensland’s jobs market coming in the next few months with job vacancies remaining at relatively low levels (see the chart below based on today’s new ABS job vacancies data). Given the relatively … Continue reading →

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More on the mining slowdown

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Gene Tunny

I posted last week on how the new ABS labour force data show a slowing in the growth rate of mining employment, but no decline in employment yet, as one might have expected based on reports of job losses at … Continue reading →

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Mining employment in Qld continues to grow, but at slower rate

Posted on September 19, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Employment in the Queensland mining sector still appears to be growing, although at a slower rate, according to the detailed quarterly data released today (see chart below). This suggests the concerns raised earlier in the year by some commentators over … Continue reading →

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Qld labour market stable, not worsening

Posted on September 13, 2013 by Gene Tunny

The Queensland labour market appears stable based on yesterday’s ABS labour force data (see chart below), confirming my skepticism about the bleak forecast for the Queensland economy reported by the Brisbane Times earlier in the week (Outlook for Qld economy … Continue reading →

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Queensland’s dynamic labour market

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Today’s new ABS data on labour mobility show Queensland has one of the most dynamic labour markets in Australia, with one of the highest proportions of workers having been with their current employer for under twelve months (chart above). I … Continue reading →

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