Sunshine state has highest jobless

QUEENSLAND has recorded Australia’s highest unemployment rate despite the state adding thousands of new jobs.

New data reveals Queensland’s unemployment rate was at 7.5 per cent for December – a 0.2-point fall on November.

Despite the slight fall, the state dropped below Tasmania, which recorded 7 per cent unemployment after a 0.9-point fall from November.

Nationally, Australia’s unemployment rate has fallen 0.2 points to 6.6 per cent.

The unenviable result is despite Queensland’s participation rate — the number of people employed or looking for a job — increasing by 0.7 per cent, a national high.

Also, 36,600 more Queenslanders were employed than in November, a 1.4 per cent increase.

A spokesman for Treasurer Cameron Dick said Queensland had added more jobs last year than any other state.

“While the number of jobs in NSW fell by 38,400 over the year, and by 52,900 in Victoria, the number of jobs created in Queensland was 25,600,” he said.

“The road to recovery from COVID is a four-year project.

“The additional challenge for Queensland is finding employment for the 86,000 Australians who the federal government says will move to Queensland over the next four years. Those new Queenslanders rightly want a job when they get here.”

Ernst & Young chief economist Jo Masters said the first major economic data of the year continued the “positive tone of recent months”.

“Employment rose nationally by a further 50,000 in the month, participation again rose and the unemployment rate continued its decline to be 6.6 per cent in December,” she said.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said businesses “should be confident” about the future.