The data, which has not been adjusted for seasonal changes, also showed a big jump in the total workforce in Queensland caused not only by interstate migration, but also by more people coming off the sidelines to enter the workforce.

In Cairns, the participation rate has jumped to 70 per cent, an extremely high level and economist Pete Faulkner from Conus Consultancy said it was because of women entering the workforce.

The losses in Queensland’s agriculture equate to 25 per cent of its workforce and could be attributed to missing backpackers who were crucial to farming before Covid hit and were forced to return to their home countries.

By contrast, the public service, which covers all three levels of government, increased its workforce by about 38,000. Health jumped by 90,000.

Tourism has been the big adapter. Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed the number of workers in the Accommodation and food services industries changed little over the three-year period but there was a big swing towards full-time work which was likely to be the part-time and casual workers shifting to full time.

Retail has also won a lot of workers, jumping from 231,000 workers in August 2019 to 305,000 in August 2022. In the past year, retail has jumped by about 50,000 workers.

Despite cost of living pressures, the retail sector is still performing strongly with Super Retail Group and JB Hi-Fi reporting continued strong sales.

Wholesale trade has lost about 12,000 workers in Queensland and real estate was down about 7000.