8.0% ▼ -18.2%
Higher than 87% of suburb / locality areas.
- 2011: 9.7%
- 2016: 9.0%
- 2021: 8.0%
Unemployed people as a share of the labour force (aged 15+).
Cairns City · Suburb / Locality
Jobs & Industry in Cairns City
Work across the area — who is in the labour force, in which industries and jobs.
A far lower proportion of adults are working or looking for work in Cairns City compared to the rest of the country. While 40.7% of adults are in the labour force—a figure far below the national 61.1%—the area still sees a high unemployment rate of 8.0%. This creates a stark gap between the local workforce and the broader Queensland and Australian trends.
Labour force
Employment, participation and unemployment.
Full-time employment is a little above the national figure at 60.9%. However, the unemployment rate of 8.0% is much higher than most areas and sits a little above both the state and national figures.
40.7% ▼ -31.5%
Lower than 90% of suburb / locality areas.
- 2011: 59.5%
- 2016: 50.5%
- 2021: 40.7%
Share of people aged 15+ who are in the labour force.
60.9% ▼ -11.8%
Higher than 64% of suburb / locality areas.
- 2011: 69.1%
- 2016: 67.4%
- 2021: 60.9%
Share of employed people who worked full-time.
Industries
The industries that employ local workers.
The local economy is heavily driven by tourism and care, with 23.5% of people working in accommodation and food services and 16.7% in health care and social assistance.
Occupations
The kinds of jobs people do.
Professional roles are the most common, making up 25% of the workforce, followed by managers at 16.8% and community and personal service workers at 14.2%.
Sources
- Census of Population and Housing — Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021 (CC BY 4.0).
More for Cairns City
Cite this page
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Jobs & Industry in Cairns City [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/sal/SAL30478/cairns-city/topic/employment