21234 – State Labour Conditions

State Labour Conditions (21234) reads the labour market of each of the eight states and territories, using the same two measures as the national Labour Market Tightness (21231). It publishes eight readings, one per jurisdiction, and no national figure: the national reading is 21231. It belongs to the Employment & GDP (21230) family and does not compose into 21230.

Labour conditions differ between states, and housing demand, household incomes and construction labour costs follow the state labour market more closely than the national one. The node is the state labour reference for the State Conditions series (21800).

Primary metric: Node Z-Score by state (Z_21234,s)

Definition. State Labour Conditions (21234) applies the construct of Labour Market Tightness (21231) to each state and territory: how small a share of the labour force is out of work, and how many jobs employers are trying to fill. Higher readings mean a tighter labour market. Each jurisdiction is read against its own history, so the node answers whether labour in a state is scarce for that state, not whether it is scarcer than in another state.

Position. Each state’s reading is ranked against that state’s own full-coverage quarters, September 2011 to June 2026: 60 quarters for every state, so every position is empirical.

Tier-1 sovereign statistical releases. Filled jobs by state are ABS modelled estimates, so the vacancy rate, and the node, begin in the September quarter 2011. A quarter is used only once its final month’s labour force figure and its vacancy survey are both published. No commercial data provider dependency exists within this node.

June quarter 2026, ordered by reading. Each z is against the state’s own 2011–2025 baseline, and each position is ranked against the state’s own 60 quarters.

One chart per state, each on the same scale. Each line is that state’s reading in every quarter against its own baseline; the shaded band is the middle 80% of the state’s own ranked quarters.

In the June quarter 2026, labour markets in seven of the eight jurisdictions were tighter than their own 2011–2025 averages; the Australian Capital Territory was slightly looser than its average (−0.1378σ, position 44.1). Queensland read highest (+0.9007σ), followed by South Australia (+0.7447σ) and Tasmania (+0.6800σ).

Six jurisdictions eased in the quarter. Queensland eased most, from +1.2566σ to +0.9007σ, and Victoria from +0.4274σ to +0.1259σ. Queensland is at its lowest since the June quarter 2021, South Australia since the September quarter 2021, and Tasmania and Victoria since the March quarter 2021. New South Wales (+0.5916σ) and the ACT edged up.

Every state reached its highest reading in 2022 or 2023, the period in which the national measure (21231) also peaked. Six of the eight recorded their lowest reading in the June quarter 2020; Tasmania’s lowest was in the June quarter 2013 and the ACT’s in the March quarter 2015.

A state’s z and its position can order differently, because each is against the state’s own history. Queensland has the highest z but a position of 67.8, because its readings through 2022–2025 were higher still; the Northern Territory’s +0.5758σ ranks 76.3. The Northern Territory’s reading rests mainly on its vacancy rate (+1.13), with its employed share close to average (+0.02); South Australia’s rests mainly on its employed share (+1.14).

The other nodes of the Employment & GDP family. Labour Market Tightness (21231) reads the same construct nationally. Only 21231 and Growth per Person (21235) compose into Employment & GDP (21230); the others are read in their own right.