Strong jobs growth for Cairns as unemployment falls

Published Thursday, 26 April, 2018 at 05:10 PM

Minister for Employment and Small Business and Minister for Training and Skills Development
The Honourable Shannon Fentiman

The city’s strong tourism performance continues to make Cairns one of Queensland’s job creation hot spots, the latest Labour force figures have revealed.

The ABS regional employment data for March shows employment up 6,100 in the city year on year.

Member for Cairns Michael Healy said the number of people without work in Cairns had fallen 1.3% in the year to March and the opportunities in retail, accommodation and hospitality provided by a thriving tourism industry was a major factor.

“This is no blip. The trend has been clear for months now that unemployment is tracking down and that is great news for our economy,” he said.

Fire and Emergency Services Minister and Member for Barron River Craig Crawford said it was particularly pleasing that more young people in the Cairns region were finding work.

“Youth unemployment was down 5.4% in March compared to last year,” he said.

“That’s great news for those at the start of their working lives.

“The Palaszczuk Government’s commitment to creating jobs and helping to train our young job-seekers is really paying off.

“When we were elected at the start of 2015 Cairns had an unemployment rate of 7.9%. Today it is 6.1%, making our city one of the best places to find work in regional Queensland.”

Minister for Employment Shannon Fentiman said it was programs like Back to Work and Skilling Queenslanders for Work that contributed to the region’s growing number of new jobs.

“This is great news for Cairns and it’s fantastic to see programs like Back to Work have assisted almost 2,500 Queenslanders in the far north into work with our investment of more than $18.7 million,” Ms Fentiman said.

“Skilling Queenslanders for Work has been a valuable contributor to Queensland’s nation leading job growth with almost 700 people getting into work or go onto further training in Cairns alone.”

 

ENDS

 

MEDIA CONTACT:           Inga Williams      0410 769 711