New jobs data reveals which industries are winning and losing in the Canberra economy, with fewer jobs opening up in hospitality, retail, and heath, and more jobs added in construction, professional services and education.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Despite losses in some industries, the detailed quarterly statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show employment in the ACT is slightly up on the last quarter, from 153,164 in February to 158,691 in May.
* PST: Professional, Scientific and Technical Services, TPW: Transport, Postal and Warehousing, IMT: Information Media and Telecommunications, FIS: Financial and Insurance Services, Real estate: Rental, Hiring and Real Estate, Health: Health Care and Social Assistance.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the figures showed that "the worst is now behind us" after commonwealth job cuts served up "one of the most difficult challenges to our labour market in the territory's history".
A stack of jobs have been added in the ACT education and training industry, according to the statistics, with the 9711 people working in the industry last May increasing to 13,365 this May.
Professional services also recorded a boost, with the 14,429 people in the professional, scientific and technical services industries last May jumping to 17,441 this May.
The number of Canberrans working in construction had also increased from 10,818 last May to 13,321 this May.
The figures line up with a recent Manpower employment outlook survey of ACT employers, which found their intention to hire more staff in the next few months was up on the last quarter.
At the time, recruitment experts said the rise was led by openings in professional services and consulting, and also noted strong job growth in construction.
The ABS also recently recorded a drop in unemployment nationally from a revised 6.1 per cent to 6 per cent in May, showing Australia to have had some of its best jobs growth in eight years.
Back in Canberra, public service administration jobs remained stagnated from the last quarter from 53,262 in February to 53,279 in May,and down as expected from 60,176 in May last year, reflecting commonwealth cuts.
Other industries struggling to add jobs include the hospitality industry which lost a huge 2950 jobs in a year, according to the data, with 6869 Canberrans in the industry in 2014 down to 3919 in May this year.
Heath and social services also took a hit, with the industry's 14,556 jobs in May last year dropping to 13,768 at the same time this year.
At least, however, this was an increase from the last quarter where there were 12,385 people employed full time in the industry in the territory.
