Mayor Paul Antonio ‘struggling’ with impressive jobs figures as economy bounces back

A queue for the Toowoomba Centrelink office snaked down the street and around the corner when COVID-19 hit. A year on, new jobs numbers have shocked the Mayor.

Mayor Paul Antonio says he is struggling to comprehend the most recent employment numbers for the Toowoomba region, with 11,800 jobs created in the past 12 months.

Mr Antonio said the region’s turnaround from its 12.2 per cent unemployment 24 per cent youth unemployment rates in May last year was “a serious pat on the back of the recognition of the vibrancy of the economy here in Toowoomba”.

Youth unemployment later hit 27 per cent in September last year but Mr Antonio said it had since fallen to 13 per cent in March.

The state average is 15.5 per cent.

“Importantly, when you look at unemployment overall, we are now sitting at 5 per cent,” Mr Antonio said.

He said it was the lowest regional rate in Queensland.

Mayor Paul Antonio says a reduction in unemployment is a credit to the Toowoomba community.

“That tells a story about the vibrancy of this community and the amount of effort that goes into creating jobs by the private sector in Toowoomba,” Mr Antonio said.

He said the unemployment across Queensland in March was 7.3%.

He said the important thing about the statistics was the 11,800 jobs created in the Toowoomba area in the past year.

“Now I’m struggling with that figure, that’s a big figure,” Mr Antonio said.

“That means an awful lot, so that’s tremendous.

“That’s something like 18.7 per cent growth in job opportunities.”

Mr Antonio said the problem for businesses would be how they filled those jobs.

“I’m hearing that all the time,” he said.

“In fact one of my council colleagues who runs a business in town said yes, there’s very low unemployment because they can’t get people to work for them.”