Tag Archives: australia

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

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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Debt ceiling is an important constraint on government expenditure

I’m somewhat surprised that the Economist in its latest issue argues the US debt ceiling “serves no useful purpose and should be abolished” (From cliff to ceiling). A debt ceiling is important because it forces the Government to consider the aggregate … Continue reading

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Unemployment rate may have peaked

There is great news in the ABS Labour force data for November that were released today. Unemployment may have peaked and hopefully we won’t see a repeat of the awful September quarter National Accounts result for Queensland that we saw … Continue reading

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Holden chief’s weird call for independent review of car industry

I was stunned when I read that Holden boss Mike Devereux has called for an independent review of the car industry, presumably in relation to Government assistance (see ‘Deadline looms’ for car industry). The Australian car industry should be extremely … Continue reading

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Large decline in rate of homelessness in Qld over last decade

I have no idea whether this is due to good luck or good management, but ABS Census data released today show Queensland’s rate of homelessness has fallen over the last decade to be comparable with rates in NSW and Victoria:

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