Queensland's growing unemployment shows need for 'tough decisions': government

Date
    February 13, 2014


Unemployment is up, but the government says it proves the need for Queenslanders to make some "tough decisions".

The latest Labour Force data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Queensland shed 11,700 jobs in a month, bringing the January seasonally adjusted unemployment rate from 5.9 per cent to 6.1 per cent.      

The trend unemployment rate remained unmoved at 5.9 per cent.

It pits Queensland, in seasonally adjusted terms, in the middle of the nation's pack - Victoria (6.4 per cent), South Australia (6.6 per cent) and Tasmania (7.6 per cent) all performed worse.


But Queensland topped the list for jobs lost to the economy - the next closest was South Australia and Western Australia which lost 500 jobs each.         

Opposition MP Curtis Pitt said it proved the government had "broken another promise".

"This is the same LNP government, when in opposition, railed against a Labor government and said there was some sort of employment crisis when figures were much lower at 5.5 per cent," he said.

"They are full of double standards when it comes to these job losses.         

"We've seen 11, 700 jobs lost in Queensland in the last month.

"This is a significant thing for Queensland. It is significant because these are real people, real families, who are doing it tough already under the Newman government's broken promises when it comes to the electricity, water prices and the cost of living .

"Campbell Newman promised a 4 per cent job target to be achieved over six years.

"They are no where near that target."         

But Treasurer Tim Nicholls said the government remained committed to its "stretch" target.

"I get no pleasure out of seeing those numbers," he said.

"I think that we do need to do more work and we consistently say that is the case. We need to grow the economy, but in order to do that we need to free ourselves of the $80 billion worth of debt we have hanging over us.

"We said that [4 per cent over six years] was our aim, that was our goal.

"We think it is entirely reasonable to have a goal to push us and pushes business in Queensland and we remain committed to that 4 per cent target."

Mr Nicholls said the latest ABS figures showed "just how important it is that we as a government take the right steps to ensure we can invest in the future".

"We have choices ahead of us if we are going to be able to invest in job creating infrastructure," he said, referencing the asset sales "conversation" the government plans on launching with the public in the coming months.

"Today's figures highlight that. I do note that on trend terms we are tracking at the same rate as the national average for unemployment and in terms of job creation, Queensland is one of three states only to have created jobs in the last 12 months, around 20,000 of them.

"So whilst today's figures are showing a marginally increase in the unemployment rate on a seasonally adjusted basis and a steady rate on the trend terms, they show that we need to do more work and we will continue to do that."

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/queenslands-growing-unemployment-shows-need-for-tough-decisions-government-20140213-32kl0.html#ixzz2tBVWm9mG

Mr Newman - What Has Gone Wrong.

He won office 

aquascoot wrote on Feb 13^th, 2014 at 7:34pm:


Can't quite decide whether the statue should resemble Hitler or Napoleon.

But the movie should be called: "The Little Can Do That Couldn't".

Would have to be a short actor for the lead role. Pity Chaplin is dead.

Postmodern Trendoid III wrote on Feb 13^th, 2014 at 11:04pm:


Yeah well there is always a need for cleaners

SOB

aquascoot wrote on Feb 14^th, 2014 at 7:06am:


bwahahahaha someone has drunk a gallon of the red koolaid. The Can’t is Little Man Syndrome—nothing more. Coal royalties are on a downward trend—the silly little git has no plans for that.

John Smith wrote on Feb 13^th, 2014 at 5:48pm:



Maybe, but I am thinking it is yet another example of representative democracy in action... Which just might be a hint as to what's gone wrong...

aquascoot wrote on Feb 14^th, 2014 at 7:06am:


Is this the common sense that made it impossible for police to identify criminal bikie gangs before trying to arrest them?

Genius move that was

aquascoot wrote on Feb 14^th, 2014 at 7:53am:


I hope you remember the above tosh when increasing numbers of Qlders have TB, golden staph etc etc. The Little Man sacked the researchers looking into all the above—and I don’t have any mystical belief that local boards can do any of that.