Tag Archives: labourforce

Penalty rates reform should be considered as way to reduce youth unemployment

Posted on January 15, 2016 by Gene Tunny

New labour force data from the ABS yesterday showed that Queensland ended 2015 with solid employment growth, and with the unemployment rate falling slightly further to 5.8 per cent, as the Queensland economy remains resilient at the end of the … Continue reading →

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Qld employment growth is great news, but it is still not strong from historical perspective

Posted on November 13, 2015 by Gene Tunny

Wisely, Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt did not get too excited over yesterday’s employment numbers, which were surprisingly strong at a national level, with the Treasurer noting, regarding the State unemployment rate, “While it’s welcome news that the seasonally adjusted unemployment … Continue reading →

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Big divide between SEQ and rest of Qld in jobs growth

Posted on August 16, 2015 by Gene Tunny

Looking at the data in Queensland Treasury’s latest briefing on regional employment, it appears that the bulk of jobs growth that is occurring in Queensland is occurring in the South-East, particularly on the Gold Coast, and many parts of regional … Continue reading →

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One-in-four part-time workers underemployed

Posted on February 24, 2015 by Gene Tunny

Queensland’s relatively weak labour market is reflected not only in the unemployment rate of 6.5%, but in a relatively high rate of underemployment, with around one-in-four part-time workers in Queensland underemployed (i.e. preferring to work more hours than they actually … Continue reading →

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Low employment growth over the term of the outgoing Qld Government

Posted on February 12, 2015 by Gene Tunny

As an economist, I’m naturally a big believer in the importance of economic factors in society. And I thought one (though not the only) reason for the big swing against the Newman Government was Queensland’s lacklustre economy, which was largely … Continue reading →

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How many new jobs needed to be created over the Qld Government’s first term?

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Gene Tunny

I was surprised earlier this month when I first saw the Queensland Government’s election campaign ad on TV noting the Government was creating over 1,100 new jobs per month. As I’ve noted previously, while the Government has had a number … Continue reading →

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Employment and unemployment can both increase because labour force grows with population

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Gene Tunny

I’ve noticed there is a bit of confusion around regarding how the Queensland Government can claim employment has grown while at the same time unemployment has increased and the unemployment rate has risen to 6.9 per cent. Employment and unemployment … Continue reading →

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Any Strong Choices jobs boost will come too late to do anything about current weakness

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Gene Tunny

While there is more than the usual uncertainty about the reliability of recent jobs data from the ABS, yesterday’s awful data for Queensland, with unemployment now at 7% seasonally adjusted, can be read as confirming the economy is pretty weak … Continue reading →

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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 →

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Unemployment keeps rising as sub-trend growth continues

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Gene Tunny

According to ABS labour force data just released, Queensland’s unemployment rate is now 6.8% seasonally adjusted and 6.5% in trend terms (see chart below). In part, this must be related to the mining slowdown and the sub-trend economic growth we’ve … Continue reading →

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