DESPITE surrounding high unemployment areas being lumped in with Ipswich, the latest employment figures show the city is playing its part in addressing the jobless rate.
Ipswich achieved a net increase of 1200 new jobs in the past 12 months.
Figures for the period show the unemployment rate has decreased 0.7%.
The annual change puts the city on a par with the state average for employment growth, Ipswich’s 0.9% growth just trailing the state at 1% growth.
However unemployment is at 7.9% in Ipswich while the state average is 6.5%. It places Ipswich as the fifth-highest unemployment rate for the state, behind Wide Bay, Townsville, Logan-Beaudesert and the Moreton Bay region.
The statistics have been distorted by the fact the statistical boundaries for Ipswich now includes the Brisbane suburbs of Inala and Forest Lake and rural areas of the Lockyer Valley.
A change to the boundaries in January 2014 saw the published unemployment rate for Ipswich increase from 6.3% to 8.3%.
Mayor Paul Pisasale said major jobs growth was seen at the Redbank Motorway Estate with new jobs at TNT, DB Schenker and Northline, a general pick-up in retail, one example being 80 new jobs at Bunnings, West Ipswich and growth at RAAF Base Amberley in civilian and enlisted personnel.
Cr Pisasale said the good news in job creation would continue with jobs on the horizon at the Super A-Mart opening at Yamanto.
“They can change our boundary but they’re not going to change our heart,” Cr Pisasale said.
“To achieve a 7.9% unemployment rate, in real terms we have dropped significantly. We are lifting our load for Queensland.
“One thing we are passionate about is creating jobs.
“The most important thing you can give people is a job and that is my focus.”
Cr Pisasale wrote to Federal Employment Minister Eric Abetz early last year to oppose the statistics boundary change and was advised the changes reflected changes in population distribution and socio-economic relationships.
“The Labour Force Survey … provides users with statistics regions that are more stable over the long term, consistent in size, more detailed, more representative of underlying settlement patterns and socio-economic relationships,” Assistant Employment Minister Luke Hartsuyker said.
Jobs data:
- Employment growth up 0.9%
- 144,000 employed in Ipswich, an increase of 1200
- Unemployment rate down 0.7% at 7.9%
- Participation rate 64.5%
By Brian Bennion