Tag Archives: abs

My comments in Morningstar article on Australia’s “27-year economic winning streak”

Posted on June 30, 2018 by Gene Tunny

One frequently quoted economic fact I think is a bit dubious is that Australia has had a record breaking expansion of 27 years. Although Australia avoided a technical recession (by not having two successive quarters of declining real GDP) during … Continue reading →

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My ABC radio interviews on the Qld state budget for 2018-19

Posted on June 13, 2018 by Gene Tunny

I made two trips to ABC’s South Brisbane studios yesterday. On the Breakfast program, hosts Bec Levingston and Craig Zonca and I chatted about Queensland’s growing state debt, the distinction between good and bad debt, and the state’s credit rating. … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

South Brisbane & South Townsville top Qld in building approvals so far in 2017-18

Posted on April 12, 2018 by Gene Tunny

In my last post, I considered the Queensland construction industry outlook. In today’s post, I take advantage of new data on building approvals at the small area level (ABS SA2 regions) for 2017-18 so far released by the ABS yesterday. … Continue reading →

Posted in Brisbane, Housing, Townsville, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Queensland construction industry outlook

Posted on April 7, 2018 by Gene Tunny

The construction industry is very important to the Queensland economy, and it employs nearly 10 percent of all workers (see Queensland Treasury’s Employment by Industry brief). One part of the broader industry, residential construction, has grown strongly in recent years, … Continue reading →

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On Qld’s relative lack of big private sector employers

Posted on March 1, 2018 by Gene Tunny

Business registrations data published by the ABS reveal Queensland has disproportionately fewer major private sector employers (with 200+ employees) than southern states. And the gap is particularly disproportionate in several sectors, including information media & telecommunications, professional, scientific & technical … Continue reading →

Posted in Industry policy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Business counts data show rise of Uber and start ups

Posted on February 22, 2018 by Gene Tunny

Yesterday afternoon, on his 612 ABC Brisbane drive time show (from 1:42:50), Steve Austin interviewed my colleague QEAS Director Nick Behrens on the still relatively weak wages growth figures released yesterday. Nick also covered more positive news regarding the state … Continue reading →

Posted in Mining, Transport, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Surge in Qld youth employment over 2017

Posted on January 19, 2018 by Gene Tunny

You have probably seen the media coverage of the strong jobs growth over 2017 for Australia. Queensland played a large part in this, with the highest employment growth rate among states and territories (4.6 percent through-the-year) and an increase in … Continue reading →

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Retail turmoil disproportionately affects young people

Posted on December 3, 2017 by Gene Tunny

The recent collapse of Australian luxury retailer Oroton reminds us of the ongoing disruption to the retail sector caused primarily by online shopping, which incidentally is about to receive a massive boost in Australia. We have recently seen the establishment … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, Retail trade, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Qld unemployment rate falls below 6% to 5.9% (in trend terms)

Posted on October 19, 2017 by Gene Tunny

This is just a quick post to update you on the September labour force estimates released by the ABS today: the Queensland unemployment rate has fallen to below 6% in trend terms and is now at 5.9% (see chart below). … Continue reading →

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

Bigger is better – small businesses once employed over half of private sector workers but no longer

Posted on September 20, 2017 by Gene Tunny

Ten years ago, small businesses, those with fewer than 20 employees, employed over half of private sector workers in Queensland, but that is no longer the case. This was revealed in an excellent note, Small Business in Queensland, published yesterday … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments