Queensland leads the nation in jobs growth

Published Thursday, 12 June, 2014 at 03:27 PM

Treasurer and Minister for Trade
The Honourable Tim Nicholls

Jobs growth in Queensland has outstripped other states once again with today’s ABS labour force figures showing that four out of every five full-time jobs created in Australia last month were created in Queensland. 

Treasurer Tim Nicholls said 18,200 full-time jobs had been created in May on a seasonally adjusted basis. 

“Growth has continued over the last 12 months with more jobs created in Queensland than any other state over the last year,” Mr Nicholls said. 

“Today’s solid result shows the Government’s strong plan to grow the economy and make it easier to do business in Queensland is working.” 

Mr Nicholls said more than 60,000 Queenslanders had gained employment in the last 12 months, on both the seasonally adjusted and trend measures. 

“More than 50 per cent of all jobs created in Australia over the past year were created in Queensland, using both trend and seasonally adjusted terms,” he said. 

“The trend measure shows an increase of 60,400 jobs in the year to May 2014, while seasonally adjusted figures show an increase of 60,800 jobs.” 

Mr Nicholls said the seasonally adjusted growth in jobs in May had impacted on the unemployment rate. 

“There’s been a slight drop in the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, down to 6.2 per cent,” he said. 

“Queensland has also enjoyed the equal strongest employment growth of any state in May, on trend terms. 

“Importantly, trend employment in Queensland has risen for 13 consecutive months. 

“While 6,800 trend jobs were created in Queensland in the last month, the trend unemployment rate did increase slightly to 6.3 per cent, reflecting a strengthening participation rate. 

“The State’s economy is on the cusp of strong growth but not all Queenslanders are sharing in that growth yet and we know there’s more to do. 

“That’s why we’ve made the strongest and smartest choice to pay down debt and free up funds for job-creating infrastructure projects."

[ENDS] 12 June 2014 

Media Contact: Treasurer’s Office 07 3719 7200