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Financial Indicators: Employment
The smoothed unemployment rate in the MITEZ region averaged 3.9% in the December Quarter 2007, an improvement of 1.5 percentage points since the December Quarter 2006.
Over the last four years, the MITEZ regions trend unemployment rate has trended steadily downwards from 8.2% in September Quarter 2003 to 3.9% in December Quarter 2007. The exception being the March and June quarters of 2006 when the MITEZ unemployment rate temporarily increased, before resuming its steady decline in the September Quarter.
The total labour force in the MITEZ region in the December Quarter 2007 was recorded as 113,680 persons. The regions labour force reported a significant increase of almost 15,000 persons in the December Quarter 2002 to over 101,000 persons. This further increased to over 118,000 persons in the December Quarter 2006, and has since declined to current levels. The decline in the MITEZ labour force has likely contributed to the falling unemployment rate over the same period.
Looking intra-regionally, the McKinlay Shire boasted the lowest unemployment rate, recording 0.7% unemployment in the December Quarter 2007, followed by Richmond (2.2%), and Flinders (2.9%). Meanwhile, Charters Towers recorded the highest unemployment rate in the December Quarter 2007 at 4.7%.
Cloncurry recorded the largest reduction in unemployment rates between December Quarter 2006 and December Quarter 2007, down 1.7 percentage points, followed by Townsville (1.6 percentage points), Mount Isa (1.4 percentage points) and Charters Towers (1.2%). Encouragingly, no MITEZ LGA recorded an increase in unemployment between the December Quarter 2006 and December Quarter 2007.
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Trend Unemployment Rate
MITEZ Region
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LGA
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Dec-04
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Dec-05
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Dec-06
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Dec-07
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Charters Towers
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6.2%
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5.7%
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6.0%
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4.7%
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Cloncurry
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6.0%
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5.9%
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5.8%
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4.1%
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Flinders
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3.0%
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2.9%
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3.1%
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2.9%
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McKinlay
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1.8%
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1.2%
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1.3%
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0.7%
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Mount Isa
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6.0%
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5.4%
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6.0%
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4.6%
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Richmond
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2.5%
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1.7%
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2.5%
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2.2%
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Townsville
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5.5%
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4.8%
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5.3%
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3.7%
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MITEZ
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5.5%
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4.9%
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5.4%
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3.9%
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Source:
QRSIS
Employment by Industry and Occupation
According to the 2006 Census, Retail Trade is the largest sector by employment in the MITEZ region, accounting for 13.9% of total employment, followed by Health and Community Services (10.7%), Government Administration and Defence (9.8%), and then Construction (9.1%).
Compared to the 2001 survey, employment in the Construction sector grew by 1.6 percentage points to 2006, while Mining (1.0 percentage points) and Health and Community Services (0.9 percentage points) also enjoyed modest gains. In contrast, Wholesale Trade declined 0.9 percentage points over the same period.
Employment growth in the Public Service sectors (including Public Administration and Defence, Health and Community Services, Education and Electricity, Gas, and Water Supply) demonstrates the increasing significance of the MITEZ region with respect to state governance. Furthermore, this increase in Public Service labour force highlights the need for additional employees in order to boost government capacity in providing public services in the MITEZ Region.
The most numerous workers by occupation type in the MITEZ region are technicians and trades workers, accounting for 17.1% of total employment, followed by professionals (15.7%), and clerical and administrative workers (13.9%).
In comparison with the 2001 survey labourers recorded the strongest growth, increasing by 0.9 percentage points to comprise 11.5% of total employment. Conversely, machinery operators and drivers (-0.8 percentage points), sales workers (-0.5 percentage points), managers (-0.5 percentage points) and community and personal service workers (-0.4 percentage points) declined in employment share.
Overall, the 2006 Census recorded an increase in employment of 12.1% with the only sectors to record a decline in persons employed being Wholesale Trade (0.9 percentage points), Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (0.7 percentage points), and Communication Services (0.2 percentage points).
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