Sunshine Coast unemployment trends: the maturing of a regional economy
Historically, the Sunshine Coast, which includes the three local government areas of Noosa, Maroochydore and Caloundra, has had an unemployment rate considerably higher than the national and Queensland state averages. However, recent analysis of unemployment trends by the Sunshine Coast Research Institute for Business Enterprise (SCRIBE) indicates the possibility that the region is maturing. The effect is to produce a more sustainable economy with lower levels of unemployment with a corresponding less cyclical swinging impact on the labour force and unemployment. This trend is discussed, as are issues relevant to whether this growth can be maintained in the long term.