Jobs underpin recovery

TASMANIA’S jobs market is experiencing strong growth, a national financial report card has found.

The state’s unemployment rate for the December quarter was down to 5.8 per cent, which was a low for 2019.

There was an increase in the number of full-time roles, according to the ANZ’s latest Stateometer report.

In general terms, the report found Tasmania’s overall growth rate remained at a below-trend rate, but was an improvement from the September quarter.

The report said the state’s growth rate “looks to be recovering after a brief slowdown in 2019”.

Most of the improvement was attributed to the strong labour market, and housing, it said.

The quarterly report, which was released last night, measures the economic performance of Australian states and territories.

But it was not all good news for Tasmania.

ANZ senior economist Cherelle Murphy warned the state would not be immune from the economic impacts of coronavirus.

Ms Murphy said impacts from a downturn in international tourists and the delayed arrival of university students from China due to the Australian Government’s travel ban were inevitable.

But she said they were not expected to be long lasting.

“It should be temporary,’’ she said.

“If everyone comes back as planned, we should see a jump into the mid-year.”

The report said after several years of elevated housing price growth, Hobart’s rate in this area “normalised” at about 4 per cent year-on-year.

It noted Hobart was now the most unaffordable city for renters when taking into account median rental price and incomes.

“Consumer sentiment surveys revealed a deterioration in the ‘time to buy a home index’,’’ the report said.

“There is a solid pipeline of residential building work to be done.” The report said retail sales in Tasmania grew by 6.8 per cent in the year to December, the fastest rate in five years.

It also found Tasmania’s population growth rate was about twice the long-term average.

Ms Murphy said, relative to other states, Tasmania had been “punching above its weight” in recent times on a number of key indicators.