Tag Archives: unemploymentrate

Unemployment much higher in North Qld, Wide Bay, Ipswich and outer Brisbane metro area

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Gene Tunny

The regional dimension to Queensland unemployment is readily apparent from the following unemployment rate maps I’ve produced based on Queensland Treasury’s handy information brief on regional unemployment. Here’s the map for the whole State: My old home town of Townsville … Continue reading →

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Don’t panic about unemployment just yet – still below long-run average

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Gene Tunny

I’ve noticed the Courier-Mail is reporting the incoming Government has “been handed a massive headache with new figures showing unemployment rising and Queenslanders dropping out of the job market.” However, yesterday’s figures simply confirmed the labour market has been lacklustre … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

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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Discouraged workers have moderated rise in unemployment rate since March 2012

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Gene Tunny

In my post last week How many jobs needed to be created over the Qld Government’s first term?, I compared the actual job creation rate of 1,400 per month with the rate of 2,200 per month that would have been … 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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Qld Govt benefits from volatile jobs data – still vulnerable over bulk of jobs growth being part-time over first term

Posted on January 15, 2015 by Gene Tunny

The volatile labour force data yielded a nice surprise for the Queensland Government today, with the seasonally adjusted rate falling from 6.8% to 6.1% between November and December last year, and the trend rate falling marginally, too, though staying the … Continue reading →

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Qld Govt’s new jobs target much more achievable than previous 4% unemployment rate target

Posted on January 11, 2015 by Gene Tunny

The Premier today announced a relatively conservative employment growth target of 209,000 new jobs over six years, which he based on Treasury advice (see LNP unveils plan for the Jobs of Tomorrow). So long as the economy doesn’t remain in … Continue reading →

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Qld Government likely to go into election campaign with weak economy

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Gene Tunny

New ABS data released today show a large drop in engineering construction activity – i.e. the heavy construction activity that has been largely associated with the resources sector in recent years. At the same time as this drop is occurring, … Continue reading →

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Update on regional unemployment in Queensland

Posted on November 16, 2014 by Gene Tunny

As I’ve commented on before (Good news for regional Qld if Carmichael mine goes ahead – jobs market weaker than in SEQ), over the last twelve months or so, there has been a large difference in employment growth between SEQ … 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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