Jobless surge as retailer buckles

ABOUT 100 Queensland jobs would be lost as collapsed fashion retailer Roger David yesterday confirmed it had failed to find a buyer, on the same day Queensland reported the highest jobless rate in the country.

The October Queensland jobless rate hit 6.3 per cent, up from 6 per cent in September according to the latest ABS figures.

In Queensland, that equated to a loss of 3200 jobs, seasonally adjusted, the ABS said.

It came as liquidators for 76-year old fashion store Roger David said the deadline had passed for it to find a buyer and all its 57 shops, including one in Cairns Central, would close over the next month.

Roger David had 98 staff in its 15 Queensland stores, and about 500 nationwide.

“Everyone recognised the strength and the affection for the brand, but it did not pass the viability test,” administrator Craig Shepard of KordaMentha Restructuring said.

“Roger David was a victim of rising fixed costs, fierce competition from online and global competitors and cautious consumer demand.”

Discounts of 60 per cent or more will continue until the last day, he said.

Queensland’s increasing unemployment went against the trend of most other states and nationally were rates either fell or were stable. Australia’s unemployment rate was steady at a six-year seasonally adjusted low of 5 per cent in October, slightly bettering market expectations, with 32,800 more people in a job since September.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland’s chief economist Marcus Smith said the disappointing figures had again highlighted Queensland’s struggling economy.

“Queensland’s high unemployment is affecting businesses and the state’s economy in so many ways,” Dr Smith said.

“People are being personally affected, consumers are not spending, social problems become more prevalent and we find that the effects linger for years, if not decades.

Dr Smith said Queensland’s trend unemployment rate had now pushed above the fiveyear average of 6.20 per cent and is considerably higher than the 10-year average of 5.97 per cent.

“There was almost no activity on the full-time jobs front for that month. It begs the question as to whether current job creation policy settings are working or not.”

CommSec chief economist Craig James said the figures showed “something of a twospeed economy has again emerged with the two most populous states – NSW and Victoria – arguably at full employment” with jobless rates at decade lows”.