Category Archives: Labour market

Skilling Queenslanders for Work probably less effective than claimed

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Gene Tunny

After reading the Deloitte Access Economics report on the Skilling Queenslanders for Work (SQW) program, I have significant doubts about whether the program generated the large benefits claimed. Earlier today, the Brisbane Times reported (Jobseeker program axed, then praised): Queensland’s … Continue reading →

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Temporary surge in unemployment due to public service cuts and spending restraint

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Gene Tunny

KS at Loose Change nicely summarises today’s new ABS labour force data with the title of his post: Qld employment shocker! I suspect today’s bad numbers are largely due to the fiscal restraint from the Queensland Government we’ve seen over … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market | 1 Comment

Qld loses 20,000 sales jobs over last 12 months

Posted on September 15, 2012 by Gene Tunny

OESR’s recent Employment by Occupation brief on Thursday’s new detailed ABS labour force data reports that employment of sales workers in Queensland fell 8.5% in Queensland and 3.3% nationally over the last 12 months. That’s around 20,000 fewer sales workers … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, Retail trade | 1 Comment

There will still be plenty of mining jobs in Queensland

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Gene Tunny

I’m reasonably confident there won’t be a precipitous fall in mining sector employment in Queensland, despite the news of 900 job losses across the Australian mining sector, with a large proportion of those job losses occurring in Queensland (Mining giants … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, Mining | 1 Comment

Public sector job cuts may be showing up in unemployment data

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Gene Tunny

The Queensland unemployment rate slightly increased in August (see the nice OESR chart below), and the public sector job cuts (and hiring freeze) we’ve seen so far are a likely contributor, although again I’d caution not to read too much … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Labour market, Macroeconomy | Leave a comment

Consumer sentiment decline most likely only temporary

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Gene Tunny

There is a good post at Macro Business by blogger Delusional Economics on Westpac’s consumer sentiment index, which has fallen sharply in Queensland: Sentiment nosedives in Queensland I expect consumer sentiment will rebound when next month’s budget reveals public service … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Labour market, Macroeconomy | Leave a comment

Commonwealth public service shrinking, too

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Gene Tunny

In a speech in Brisbane today, Treasury Secretary Dr Martin Parkinson made some astute comments on the growing imbalance between the demands the public places on government and the public’s willingness to pay for government services: What will be required … Continue reading →

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Volatile labour force data suggest ABS needs bigger Qld sample

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Gene Tunny

The ABS urgently needs to boost its sample of Queensland households for the Labour Force Survey so we don’t get weird month-to-month changes like we’ve seen lately. Pete Faulkner from Conus Consulting has a good post on today’s new data … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market | 1 Comment

Las Vegas a poor example for Gold Coast to follow

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Gene Tunny

The Gold Coast Bulletin reports this morning that Las Vegas may become Coast’s sister city: MAYOR Tom Tate will today officially ask Las Vegas to become a sister city of the Gold Coast and says our region’s tourist strip can … Continue reading →

Posted in Gold Coast, Labour market, Tourism | 3 Comments

Two-speed economy shows up in job vacancies data

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Gene Tunny

The economies of the non-resources States are not looking healthy, if today’s ABS job vacancies data are any indication: MacroBusiness has good coverage of the national data (ABS job vacancies fall), with Houses and Holes observing: It appears that growth … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, Macroeconomy, Mining | 1 Comment