Queensland jobless jumps to the worst on the mainland as economy cools
Queensland’s unemployment has jumped by 0.8 per cent to 4.5 per cent putting it well above the national level of 3.7 per cent and only slightly behind the worst, Tasmania, with 4.7 per cent.
Queensland's unemployment is storming back
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics data, about 25,000 Queenslanders became jobless in the month bringing the total to 132,000. That’s the highest on the seasonally adjusted data since November 2021, but a long from the Covid peak of 234,000 in July 2020.
Queensland also remains well below its pre-Covid unemployment level of 151,000 in December 2019.
On the trend basis, which is the State Government’s accepted measure, Queensland fares slightly better with a 4.1 per cent unemployment rate, which was the worst in the nation.
Queensland’s men appeared to have suffered the most from the job losses. About 22,000 lost their job in the month while only about 3000 women found themselves unemployed.
The data on a national basis was weaker than expected but follows several months of strong employment. That should mean the Reserve Bank remains on hold.
The ABS pointed out that July includes school holidays and it was a time when people started or left a job so the figures can move around significantly.
Nationally, about 36,000 people lost work in the month, according to the bureau’s Bjorn Javis.
However, the total unemployed of 541,000 was about 172,000 lower than before the pandemic.
Monthly hours worked increased and Jarvis said this was probably because fewer people than usual took leave in the month.
“The strength in hours worked shows that it continues to be a tight labour market. Hours worked were 5.2 per cent higher than in July 2022, well above the 2.8 per cent annual increase in employment.
“The strength in hours worked over the past year, relative to employment growth, shows the demand for labour is continuing to be met, to some extent, by people working more hours.”
ANZ said the slowdown in the Australian economy was continuing and it should “cool materially” over the next few months.
“The unemployment rate is likely to have seen its low for the year, although increases from here should be modest,” the bank said.
Westpac said the market had been anticipating an increase in employment, but it said the labour market was still “incredibly tight” and vacancies were at historically elevated levels.
