ALP jobs target short by 20,000

Source: Courier Mail 14 October 2011

THE Bligh Government will have to triple its current job creation effort if it is to meet its 100,000 jobs pledge.

With only an extra 100 jobs created in Queensland in September, the State Government remains almost 20,000 short of its goal, having created fewer than 1000 jobs a month on average this year.

If an election is held in March, it will need to add 3300 a month.

But in an erratic set of data released yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the state's unemployment rate in trend terms rose slightly to 5.8 per cent in September while the more volatile seasonally adjusted figures showed a huge fall from 6.3 per cent to 5.4 per cent. Nationally the figure fell to 5.2 per cent with 20,000 jobs created in the month.

The number of unemployed in Queensland has jumped by 27,000 since the Bligh Government won office in March 2009.

ABS figures show Queensland created 1300 full-time jobs which was largely offset by the loss of 1200 part-time jobs, Treasurer Andrew Fraser said.

"We have always said it was a tough target. We now sit at 80,100 with 19,900 to go," Mr Fraser said. "The Bligh Government went to the election with a plan to create jobs in Queensland and build a stronger economy. We have stuck to that plan just like we said we would and we are moving closer to it day by day."

Since May, the number of unemployed has grown by 10,000 in Queensland, the state with the nation's highest level.

LNP Shadow Treasurer Tim Nicholls said Queensland's economy should be booming and experiencing historically low unemployment rates similar to Western Australia. "This is the fourth month in a row Queensland's trend unemployment rate has risen," he said.

Nationally, full-time employment rose by 10,800 in September and part-time jobs rose by 9600. Economists said the increase in jobs showed "the sun is still shining in Australia".

HSBC's Paul Bloxham said the sharp rise in the national unemployment rate in recent months may have been a red herring.

"We clearly dodged a bullet here, as a further rise in the unemployment rate would have significantly increased the chances of an RBA cut," he said.

"Our central expectation remains that the unemployment rate stays in the low fives."