{"id":158876,"date":"2016-09-22T16:01:57","date_gmt":"2016-09-22T06:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=158876"},"modified":"2020-10-03T17:46:40","modified_gmt":"2020-10-03T07:46:40","slug":"wide-bay-burnett-unemployment-drops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/09\/22\/wide-bay-burnett-unemployment-drops\/","title":{"rendered":"Wide Bay-Burnett Unemployment Drops"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

September 22, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Thursday shows unemployment in the Wide Bay-Burnett was down 2.4 percent over the same period last year.<\/p>\n

Treasurer Curtis Pitt said the latest regional labour force data showed Wide Bay and Logan-Beaudesert had the largest unemployment rate decrease in the state, but there were still regions that were doing it tough.<\/p>\n

“It is an encouraging sign that a number of regions across Queensland have recorded a fall in their unemployment rate in the past 12 months,” Mr Pitt said.<\/p>\n

“This month also shows improvement in the unemployment rates for the Darling Downs, Maranoa, Fitzroy, Mackay, Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba in the 12 months to August 2016.”<\/p>\n

Mr Pitt said the State Government was acutely aware of the need to tackle the state\u2019s unemployment, especially in regional areas, and its focus was on creating job opportunities.<\/p>\n

“That\u2019s why we are now offering a higher incentive to Queensland businesses to employ apprentices and trainees through our Payroll Tax Rebate,” he said<\/p>\n

“For this financial year. any employer in Queensland with apprentices or trainees on staff will now be able to claim a 50 per cent rebate.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr Pitt said the doubling of the rebate for hiring apprentices and trainees made Queensland\u2019s payroll tax system even more attractive.<\/p>\n

“Our $100 million Back to Work regional jobs package also aims to support up to 8,000 jobs in regional Queensland and includes payments of $10,000 for employers who hire an unemployed worker, rising to $15,000 for the long-term unemployed.<\/p>\n

“I would encourage regional employers to take advantage of these schemes and the significant payments available for taking on an unemployed person.”<\/p>\n

Other job creation initiatives include a $40 billion four-year infrastructure program with $10.7 billion earmarked for 2016-17 supporting an estimated 31,000 jobs. Almost half the 2016-17 infrastructure spending ($4.9 billion) is targeted to regional Queensland.<\/p>\n