SunshineCoastRegionalReport2ndQtr2004

POPULATION & EMPLOYMENT
SMALL AREA LABOUR MARKET ANALYSIS



 %                                            Trend Average Unemployment Rate
16
                                                Caloundra City              Maroochy Shire          Noosa Shire
                                                                                                                                    Caloundra City’s trend unemployment rate stood at 8.4% in the March
15                                                                                                                                  Quarter 2004, a slight drop from the 8.5% recorded in the March Quarter
14                                                                                                                                  2003. Maroochy Shire recorded the lowest trend unemployment rate in
13                                                                                                                                  the March Quarter 2004 (8.0%), which was also a reduction from a year
12                                                                                                                                  earlier (down by 0.2 percentage points). Trend unemployment was highest
11                                                                                                                                  in Noosa Shire at 9.5% in the March Quarter 2004, although this rate has
10                                                                                                                                  also decreased over the past year (down by 0.4 percentage points).
       9

       8                                                                                                                            During the March Quarter 2004, trend unemployment within the Sunshine
       7                                                                                                                            Coast LGAs was highest in:
       6


                                                                                                                                    •
 Dec-01                              Mar-02    Jun-02   Sep-02     Dec-02     Mar-03   Jun-03    Sep-03     Dec-03     Mar-04
                                                                                                                                        Maroochydore (12.2%);
                                                                                                                                    •   Caloundra South (10.7%);
                                                                                                                                    •   Noosa- Noosaville (10.3%); and
                                                                                                                                    •   Caloundra Hinterland (10.0%).

                                                Growth in Trend Labour Force
                              15
                              13                  Caloundra City             Maroochy Shire              Noosa Shire                Compared to the March Quarter 2003, the number of persons in the labour
                              11
                               9
                                                                                                                                    force in each of the LGA’s increased in the March Quarter 2004. The
                                                                                                                                    most significant growth was recorded in Maroochy Shire (up by 3.6%),
 annual % change, quarterly




                               7
                               5
                               3
                                                                                                                                    while Noosa Shire recorded a 3.1% increase and Caloundra Shire a 2.9%
                               1                                                                                                    increase. Within each of the LGA’s, the strongest growth in labour force
                               -1
                               -3
                                                                                                                                    was recorded in the Sunshine – Peregian SLA (growth of 4.0%).
                               -5
                               -7
                               -9
                              -11
                              -13
                              -15
                                Mar-02             Sep-02               Mar-03                  Sep-03                 Mar-04

Source: DEWRSB Small Area Labour Market Analysis, AECeconomics




JOB ADS

                                                                 Job Ad Survey                                                      The AECgroup job advertisement series for the Sunshine Coast (based on
            No. Job Ads                                                                                              No. Job Ads
            4,000                                                                                                          20,000   counts from the Sunshine Coast Daily) indicated a total of 2,877 job ads
                                                    Sunshine Coast (LHS)           Queensland (RHS)
            3,500
                                                                                                                          18,000    in June 2004. This represented a 15.1% reduction from May 2004,
                                                                                                                          16,000    although was a 4.2% increase when compared to June 2003. By
            3,000
                                                                                                                          14,000    comparison, Queensland job ads were 21.4% higher in June 2004 when
            2,500
                                                                                                                          12,000    compared with June 2003.
            2,000                                                                                                         10,000

                                                                                                                          8,000
            1,500
                                                                                                                          6,000
            1,000
                                                                                                                          4,000
                              500
                                                                                                                          2,000

                                0                                                                                         0
                                    Jun-03     Aug-03       Oct-03      Dec-03         Feb-04      Apr-04        Jun-04

Source: AECgroup, ANZ Job Ad Survey


                                                                                                                                    Note: It is inappropriate to derive exact employment estimates from the
                                                                                                                                    DEWRSB Small Area Labour Market data. Small Area Labour Force data
                                                                                                                                    may have high standard errors associated with it. Care should be taken in
                                                                                                                                    the interpretation of regional estimates. The estimates in this collection
                                                                                                                                    have not been adjusted to take account of seasonal or other variations.




©0, Sunshine Coast Regional Economy, Second Quarter 2004                                                                                                                                                - 20 -