{"id":167472,"date":"2017-01-19T20:07:33","date_gmt":"2017-01-19T10:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=167472"},"modified":"2020-09-25T16:05:36","modified_gmt":"2020-09-25T06:05:36","slug":"unemployment-worst-in-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2017\/01\/19\/unemployment-worst-in-australia\/","title":{"rendered":"Unemployment ‘Worst In Australia’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Qld Shadow Treasurer Scott Emerson (Photo: Twitter)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

January 19, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

Queensland’s unemployment rate is the worst in the nation, the State Opposition said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

In a reply to the State Government’s “Works For Queensland” jobs program announcement, the Opposition claimed more jobs were disappearing the Queensland than any other State in Australia.<\/p>\n

And Shadow Treasurer Scott Emerson said the State’s true job situation could be even worse, because unemployment was rising despite a fall in the participation rate as tens of thousands of people give up looking for work.<\/p>\n

“Last year will go down as a disastrous year for Queensland job seekers, capped off by 13,700 job losses in December,” Mr Emerson said.<\/p>\n

“The situation in Queensland is dire. We are seeing massive and nation-leading job losses, coupled with the overwhelming exodus of people from the labour force – meaning they are no longer reflected in the numbers.<\/p>\n

“People are giving up looking for work in record numbers and unemployment is increasing. This is bad news for Queensland.”<\/p>\n

Mr Emerson said it didn’t matter the measure – trend or seasonally adjusted – it was clear Queensland was falling behind.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The Treasurer\u2019s preferred trend measure shows 34,400 job losses in 2016 and that a further 37,000 people gave up their search for work. Again, Queensland was the worst in Australia on these two fronts,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The story is just as bad on the seasonally-adjusted measure, with almost 31,000 jobs disappearing last year.<\/p>\n

“Queensland\u2019s unemployment rate, which is far higher than the national average, would even higher if the participation rate was not in freefall.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s hardly surprising things have got so bad here in Queensland. The State Government has slashed $3 billion from infrastructure spending and its “do nothing” approach has driven business confidence through the floor.<\/p>\n

“Restoring a fraction of the billions of dollars in cuts to infrastructure won’t restore confidence in regional Queensland or go anywhere near making up for the economic damage done.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Queensland and Western Australia – the major mining States – both have declining job numbers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Footnote:<\/strong> According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the South Burnett’s unemployment rate at the end of the September quarter – the latest figures available – was 8.6 per cent. This is 2.1 per cent better than the situation in September 2015, when it was 10.7 per cent.<\/p>\n