May 17, 2012
After climbing 1 per cent per month in January, February and March, the unemployment rate for April has fallen from 9.5 per cent to 7.2 per cent in the Wide Bay Burnett region.
“While I welcome the fall in the numbers, our region is still well above the national unemployment rate of 4.9 per cent,” Federal Member for Wide Bay Warren Truss said today.
“The figures have become so volatile that they are almost unbelievable, with unemployment hitting 12.3 per cent in August last year.
“I am concerned that the fall in the number masks the feel on the street. Retailers, restaurants and tourism operators throughout the Wide Bay region continue to tell me that business is down, people are not spending, and confidence is low.
“In times of uncertainty, people look to their Government to establish a strong economic direction for the future.
“Unfortunately the Gillard Labor Government’s carbon tax Budget did nothing to kick start the regional economy, only delivering more debt, more broken promises and a new $36 billion tax on everything.
“Labor’s carbon tax will impede growth and act as a brake on the economy. With such volatility there could not be a worse time to introduce the world’s biggest carbon tax.”
