Tag Archives: employment

ABS funding cuts may have compromised macroeconomic management

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Given the huge revisions to recent labour force data published by the ABS data yesterday, it’s now clear that the ABS is suffering from the impacts of funding cuts in recent years (see this ABC news report), and this has … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

New ABS figures show two of the four pillars are crumbling – agriculture & mining

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Gene Tunny

New quarterly employment by industry data confirm falling employment levels in two of the so-called four pillars of the Queensland economy: agriculture and mining (see chart below). Regarding the other two pillars, construction employment appears flat and the ABS does … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Mining | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sub-par growth to continue as mining investment falls and govts restrain spending

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s Head of Economic Analysis, Dr Jonathan Kearns, gave an informative presentation this morning on current economic conditions at an Economic Society of Australia (Qld branch) breakfast at the Brisbane Polo Club. The outlook for at … Continue reading →

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Qld unemployment rate falls slightly to 6.1% – rising participation a good sign

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The March labour force data released today by the ABS, showing the unemployment rate falling to 5.8% from 6.1% in February, were good news for the Australian economy, as reflected in the dollar surging and one prominent commentator forecasting an … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Challenging labour market conditions for young Australians

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Professor Jeff Borland has recently published an informative labour market snapshot on What is happening to jobs for the young? As Professor Borland notes, employment opportunities for young people have declined significantly over the last few years as employers have become … Continue reading →

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CairnsWatch remains optimistic despite very weak Cairns labour market

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Rick Carr of Herron Todd White Cairns has released the March edition of his excellent CairnsWatch report, and it contains this disturbing chart of employment in the Cairns region, which suggest a very weak economy: Let’s hope employment in Cairns … Continue reading →

Posted in Cairns | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Something for the optimists in today’s labour force data

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Gene Tunny

My friend and former Treasury colleague Joe Branigan has found some good news for Queensland in today’s new labour force data. Earlier today, Joe tweeted an interesting chart (see below), showing Queensland has led Australia in the growth of hours … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Reduce youth unemployment through improved regulation – e.g. of penalty rates, taxis

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Gene Tunny

With overall unemployment creeping up to 6%, unemployment among 15 to 24 year olds, which tends to be naturally higher anyway and ends up even higher when the economy slows, has increased to over 15% and has re-emerged as a … Continue reading →

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Is employment a lagging indicator of the economy?

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Gene Tunny

A tendency has developed among commentators to dismiss the relevance of discouraging employment data, based on the view that the labour market is a lagging indicator of the economy (e.g., a recent post by a prominent Australian economic commentator: Crappy … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, Macroeconomy | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Sorry to tell you, QTC, but the labour market is not a lagging indicator

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I’m glad Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC) remains optimistic about the economic outlook, even after last week’s discouraging labour force data, but I’m afraid one reason behind its optimism is unfounded. In its Weekly Market and Economics Review sent out via … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments