Queensland's buoyant economy is still underpinning positive employment growth in the state with a survey released this week showing 22% of bosses expecting to hire more staff in the coming quarter.
While down from the 26% result in the previous period, the quarterly Manpower employment survey shows Queensland employers indicate higher-than-average employment intentions for the September quarter, 5 percentage points higher than the national average of 17%.
Employment intentions across South Australia, Northern Territory, Western Australia and New South Wales demonstrated quarter-on-quarter increases, however Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria reported slight decreases in hiring intentions.
"These results reflect the strong buoyant Queensland economy and mirror the optimism of many employers nationally," Manpower Australia managing director Varina Nissen says.
"Industry sector comparisons have revealed employers in the mining/construction and the services sectors are, for the second consecutive quarter, delivering the strongest hiring intentions - at 21% and above."
All industry sectors surveyed recorded a slight decrease in quarter-on-quarter change, but remained positive in their hiring intentions.
Job forecasts in the manufacturing sector are weakest with a net employment outlook of 12%, down from 15% in the previous quarter.
The survey also analyses hiring intentions on a regional basis, with mixed results in the Asia Pacific region.
Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore are anticipating recovery and strong year-on-year growth at 23% and 9% respectively now the threat of SARS is lifted and employers adopt growth strategies.
And while New Zealand's results were down from the second quarter, the country reported the strongest employment outlook in the region at 30%.