The growth in Queensland employment is not what it appears to be, reveals new research from Propertyology, a national property market researcher and buyers’ agency.
The firm claims that comparing the state’s unemployment rate to the national average is far too simple, and that a more detailed analysis of jobs data over the past two years has revealed that Queensland’s mildly positive job growth was courtesy of a ballooning public service.
“Every state needs to be a champion at something. New South Wales is Australia’s financial and insurance capital, Victoria holds the trophy for manufacturing and major events, and sadly Queensland has become the champion of ‘administrating’,” said Simon Pressley, Propertyology’s head of property market research.
“Over the past two calendar years, Queensland produced only 14,476 new jobs, yet public administration and safety added more than 29,600,” he said. “One can only speculate whether the soaring number of public servants was intentional or not, given the continued lacklustre performance of the Queensland economy.”
While the public service sector has lost almost 30,000 jobs over the past two years, Pressley said a similar number of jobs were lost in key industries, such as health, education, real estate, transport, and mining, among others.
“It's clear that Queensland’s economy is weaker than how it appears on face value,” Pressley said. “Commentators have been predicting big results for the Brisbane property market for a few years now, but the poor jobs market hasn’t supported their rampant optimism.”
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Source: Propertyology
Source: Propertyology
Lacklustre economic activity spills over into property
According to Pressley, economic activity is a precursor to property market performance. “Brisbane’s underwhelming property market performance over the last few years is a [by-product] of the broader Queensland economy. Bold decisions are needed if the potential is to ever be unlocked.”
The job volumes attached to new infrastructure projects currently in the pipeline haven’t inspired great confidence either. “Unless the upcoming state election produces a range of major new infrastructure projects, Propertyology anticipates Brisbane's property market to continue to mirror the underwhelming job numbers,” he said.
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