Mackay tops jobs growth in the state

IF YOU want a job in Queensland the sugar cane capital of Mackay is the place to be.

New jobs data has revealed the city’s unemployment rate has dropped from 4.8 per cent to 3.5 per cent over the past 12 months while overall job numbers remained stable.

Mackay’s halcyon times are in contrast to Queensland’s two biggest tropical cities – Townsville and Cairns.

The number of jobs in Cairns has shrunk by 1000 over the past 12 months, pushing the unemployment rate up to 6.3 per cent.

And attempts to prop up Townsville’s lacklustre economy through a public spending bonanza have only worked to keep the city’s unemployment rate stable at 8.9 per cent, well above the statewide figure of 6.1 per cent. The figures show there are 5500 more jobs in Townsville now than 12 months ago but almost 1000 additional people on the city’s unemployment queue.

Mackay also has the lowest youth jobless rate in Queensland at 6.5 per cent, which is half the statewide average and much better than the fancied Brisbane market.

The figures come as Queensland carries the inauspicious title as the nation’s unemployment capital after falling behind fellow resources state, Western Australia.

The latest jobs data by region has revealed wildly different circumstances between cities and debunks the notion that southeast Queensland is an employment paradise.

In the greater Brisbane area, the Ipswich and Logan jobs markets improved slightly as growth outpaced unemployment.

However, the jobless rate jumped from 7.5 per cent to 8.9 per cent in Moreton Bay, putting the area in the same league as much- maligned Townsville.

The Gold Coast is the southeast corner’s hottest jobs market with 17,400 extra positions created in 12 months and a jobless rate of 4.3 per cent, which is below the national figure of 5.1 per cent.

However, the Sunshine Coast’s unemployment rate leapt from 4.8 per cent to 6.4 per cent despite more than 7000 extra jobs being created.

Treasurer Jackie Trad said Queensland’s jobs growth was 3.2 per cent, almost double population, and 15 of the state’s 19 labour markets grew job numbers.

Opposition treasury spokesman Tim Mander said Queensland’s economy clearly wasn’t firing on all cylinders.