QUEENSLAND ECONOMY AND JOBS OUTLOOK

Australia: Lucky AND Blessed
For nearly half a century, Australia has been the lucky country.  Now it’s the blessed country.  Good luck and good management are key factors that have allowed Australia to show the world a clean pair of heels after more than a year of weathering the financial crisis.
Our economy is growing:  the June quarter registered a rise of 0.6%, unemployment has dropped slightly to 5.7% in the year to the end of June.  The weight of opinion in the international investment community is acceptance that Australia had in the words of Graham Harman, head of investment strategy at Citigroup, “pulled a rabbit out of the hat”.  China has not been able to move, but move very quickly “has meant that one of the sceptics’ biggest arguments against Australia – a heavy reliance on resources – is now seen as “one of the main drawcards.”
It’s not only Australian unemployment is falling but that our banks are strong, exports are robust, consumer confidence is rising, shops are doing a brisk trade, restaurants are full and house prices are on average; rising.
The Weekend Australian Financial Review, 17 October 2009

Signs Economy Has Passed Worst of Global Downturn
The number of job advertisements has increased for a second consecutive month and at the strongest pace in almost two years, in a further sign the economy has passed through the worst of the global downturn and is now recovering, a survey shows.
The number of jobs advertised in newspapers and on the internet rose by 4.4 per cent in September, a survey by ANZ Banking Group published yesterday said.

It was the strongest pace of increase since December 2007 and followed a 4.1 per cent improvement in August.  Job ads had declined for 15 straight months between May 2008 and July this year.

ANZ acting chief economist Warren Hogan said the September data was the best evidence to date that the labour market and the economy more generally was entering an early recovery phase. Courier Mail, 6 Oct 2009

Resources Boom Keeps Jobless Role Steady
Queensland has returned to being one of two of the nation’s most confident economies with Queensland creating jobs last month.
The national unemployment rate for August remained stable at 5.8%. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the jobless rate in Queensland dropped from 5.7% to 5.5%.

Queensland treasurer, Andrew Fraser said the renewal of activity in the mining and construction sectors was the main contributor to job growth.  There is an underlying confidence that growth will return in the future.

According to Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister of Australia, “Australia has the fastest growing economy in the advanced world and one of the few not to have fallen into recession”. Australia had strong financial regulation and prudential supervision, and four of the world’s nine remaining AA or higher – rated banks.