5.8% ▼ -13.9%
Higher than 65% of urban centre areas.
- 2011: 6.8%
- 2016: 7.7%
- 2021: 5.8%
Unemployed people as a share of the labour force (aged 15+).
Cairns · Urban Centre
Jobs & Industry in Cairns
Work across the area — who is in the labour force, in which industries and jobs.
Health care and social assistance is the biggest employer in Cairns, where 18.4% of the workforce is employed in this sector. The city sees a high number of adults working or looking for work compared to most areas, though full-time employment has dropped since 2011.
Labour force
Employment, participation and unemployment.
Working or looking for work is common here, with 62.6% of adults active in the labour force. While the unemployment rate of 5.8% is higher than in most areas, it has fallen slightly since 2011.
62.6% ▼ -4.7%
Higher than 78% of urban centre areas.
- 2011: 65.7%
- 2016: 63.0%
- 2021: 62.6%
Share of people aged 15+ who are in the labour force.
58.2% ▼ -9.2%
Higher than 61% of urban centre areas.
- 2011: 64.1%
- 2016: 62.4%
- 2021: 58.2%
Share of employed people who worked full-time.
Industries
The industries that employ local workers.
People in Cairns mainly work in health care and social assistance (18.4%), followed by accommodation and food (10.3%) and retail trade (9.8%). Education and construction also employ significant portions of the population.
Occupations
The kinds of jobs people do.
Professionals make up the largest group of workers at 20.9%. Other common roles include community and personal service workers at 15.1% and technicians and tradespeople at 14.7%.
Sources
- Census of Population and Housing — Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021 (CC BY 4.0).
More for Cairns
Cite this page
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Jobs & Industry in Cairns [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/ucl/UCL303001/cairns/topic/employment