Category Archives: Labour market

Did the financial crisis lead to an increase in Queensland’s crime rate?

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Under its open data policy, the Queensland Government yesterday released a very interesting data set on criminal offences on a monthly basis since July 1997. Recalling the work of Nobel laureate Gary Becker on the economic determinants of crime, I … Continue reading →

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Qld jobless rate not “historically high”

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Gene Tunny

I agree with CommSec that Queensland is in the middle of the pack in terms of economic performance among the States, but I disagree with their observation in the State of the States report that “the jobless rate remains historically high.” … Continue reading →

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Public sector hiring freeze continues

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Job vacancies data released by the ABS yesterday point to continuing weakness in the labour market, with job vacancies of 26,000 in February 2013 compared with 36,100 in February 2012. Around one-third of the decline in job vacancies through the … Continue reading →

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RBA says SEQ builders see signs of improvement in sector

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Christopher Kent of the RBA has given an informative speech on Recent Developments in the Housing Market, in which he noted there are signs of improvement in the SEQ building industry: Approvals in Queensland have been subdued, particularly on the … Continue reading →

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Very surprising employment numbers for Qld – ABS needs to investigate volatility

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Given the low levels of job vacancies toward the end of 2012 (see this previous post), I’m very surprised to see the strong rebound in employment in January (30,200 new jobs) and the unemployment rate dropping to 5.5% from 6.1% … Continue reading →

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Compelling evidence of robust recovery in Far North Qld

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Cairns and the broader Far North Queensland (FNQ) economy appeared to be in a lot of trouble in the immediate post-financial crisis period, as a result of a large decline in tourism and an over-supply of housing and commercial property … Continue reading →

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Why is Qld’s participation rate higher than the rest of Australia’s?

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Queensland’s labour force participation rate is slightly higher than the national average (see chart below), and historically this has been cited as a reason for a higher unemployment rate than the national average, as I discussed in a post last … Continue reading →

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People marginally attached to the labour force behind participation rate movements

Posted on January 26, 2013 by Gene Tunny

In the early 2000s, when Queensland’s unemployment rate seemed permanently stuck around 1-2 percentage points above the national average, it was common for Premier Beattie and Employment Minister Braddy to note that our relatively higher participation rate placed us at … Continue reading →

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Brisbane metro labour market in bad shape

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Gene Tunny

According to ABS regional labour force data, the latest batch of which was released today, the rise in Queensland’s unemployment rate over 2012 was driven by a weakening labour market in the Brisbane metro area – a deterioration which was … Continue reading →

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Qld’s sluggish labour market persists – unemployment at 6.2% (compared with 5.4% nationally)

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Gene Tunny

The Queensland unemployment rate was recorded at 6.2% (seasonally adjusted) in December 2012, up slightly from 6.1% in the previous month. The number of unemployed persons has increased to nearly 154,000, compared with 130,000 twelve months previously. The result is … Continue reading →

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