The headline CPI for the March quarter fell to 3.6% y/y (from 4.1% in the December quarter). While this is certainly a move in the right direction as far as the RBA are concerned, the fact that the Core measure (which excludes volatile elements within the CPI) is still at 4.0% y/y will mean that the Bank will not be in any hurry to cut rates just yet. In the chart below the monthly CPI readings show quite clearly that the pace of change has slowed. The post Inflation falls but not fast enough for RBA to rush to cut rates appeared first on Conus Consultancy Services ..read more

In the 5 years from mid-2016 median house prices in Cairns went almost precisely nowhere (units rose by about 5%). However, over the same period median rents for houses and units increased by about 23%, opening up a significant gap between the two metrics. In the almost-three years since then we’ve seen rents increase another 24% while median house prices have surged a full 40% and as a result partly, but nowhere near fully, closed that gap. Over the course of the 8-year period rents are up 50-52% while median prices of units and houses are up 32-39%. The post The changing (and rising) face o ..read more

Last month we reported a slight decline (-100) in the number of Trend employment in Cairns after a run of nine positive months. This month we have seen that decline revised away and we see an additional 600 added to Trend employment and the run of positive months extended to 11. This revision has also seen the unemployment rate revised down to 4.6% where it remains this month. Trend employment growth has improved to 4.2% y/y which is well above State (3.6%) and National (2.7%) rates of growth. However, we must note that this growth has come exclusively from part-time positions (+10,000 over th ..read more

The most recent data from BITRE (up to Feb 2024) shows that the number of passengers from and to Japan via Cairns Airport has hit recent highs again… The post Passengers from/to Japan hits new highs appeared first on Conus Consultancy Services ..read more

For the fifth consecutive month Trend employment in Cairns lifted again in August (+600), although we remain 2.1% down from a year ago. The growth was split between full-time and part-time employment, although full-time employment is still down for the year. Once again most of the full-time gains came from males while females saw larger increases in part-time work. Over the course of the year all the decline in employment has come in the female cohort and that in turn has been driven by a steady decline in female participation (reversing the moves we saw during the COVID period). In recent mon ..read more

The data from Cairns Airport for July shows a very solid pick up in both international and domestic passenger numbers. Our Trend estimate suggests that total monthly numbers are now approaching 400,000 which is only 7.5% below pre-COVID levels at this time of year. Most of this shortfall is from the international sector where passenger numbers, despite some encouraging recovery, are still 20% below their pre-COVID levels. If we consider the running annual total, international passenger numbers now sit slightly above 50% of where they were at this time in 2019. The TRA monthly snapshot tourism ..read more

Data for the May 2023 quarter shows that while Public Sector employment across the nation has remained relatively static over recent quarters, here in Queensland there has been a distinct move up. Since August 2014 Public Sector employment across Australia has grown by 37.8%, far outstripping the Private Sector which has managed just 19.3% over the same period. However, when we consider things since the start of the COVID pandemic a very different picture emerges. Public Sector employment since Feb 2020 has been virtually static (actually it’s declined by slightly less than 0.1%) while the Pri ..read more

A ..read more

A ..read more

A ..read more