The creation of some 40,000 extra jobs in Australia should have all of us jumping for joy. But if you dig a little deeper into the statistics there are considerable disparities between the boom states and the rest of the nation.

The headline unemployment rate in September fell from 5.7% to 5.6% seasonally adjusted. With everyone from the RBA down revising their forecasts for jobless numbers down to 6% and lower, its telling that the state-by-state breakdown showed that Queensland’s unemployment rate has soared from 5.5% to 6.3%.

The severity of these numbers are further underlined (or even perhaps explained) by the rising number of insolvencies in Queensland, which are up 20% for the September quarter according to Insolvency & Trustee Service Australia.

Part of the reason for this has been the rise and rise of the Australian dollar which rose to US90.6c overnight. While continued weakness in the greenback accounts for some of this strength, the bulk of interest comes from the carry trade where funds borrow in a low yielding currency like the Swiss Franc or the Japanese Yen and then invest in Australian dollars at the new overnight cash rate of 3.25% and pocket the difference.

The result of a stronger dollar? Holidays to places like Port Douglas and the Whitsundays are increasingly expensive for overseas visitors, which ultimately means less tourists. A diving instructor who had been working the Great Barrier Reef crowd told me that up until about a month ago he had spent more than 500 nights aboard dive ships over the last two years.  Now he’s in a job share arrangement working week on week off.

The developers and property barons are having just as much trouble.  Take boutique apartment developer Juniper for instance. After claiming to have sold all but five of its 33 luxury apartments in its Coconut Grove development off the plan in 2007, sources in Port Douglas say the same apartments are still on the books. Another report had units at Juniper’s exclusive Sea Temple development selling at less than half their purchase price.

But when it comes to the fortunes of FNQ, nothing encapsulates it better than the story of Tom Hedley, the one man building boom. A former plumber by trade, Hedley built up an empire of hotels and apartment developments that spread from Port Douglas to Townsville and everywhere in between. In 2007 his wealth had been estimated at over $700 million.

Nestled in between the exclusive holiday resort of Palm Cove and Hedley’s home town of Cairns is a sleep little cove called Trinity Beach. It’s not so much of a destination for tourists but for owner occupiers.  Hedley built a multi million dollar beachfront apartment complex called Bellevue here in 2000 with breathtaking views. It was a huge success for Hedley but as his net worth grew, so did his ambitions.

After loading up on debt he bought a plot of land next door that was more than three times its size. The development was named Vue. It was to be a six star luxury complex, seven stories high with 270 degree views of the Coral Sea and an infinity pool. Not to mention the enormous pub that occupied the first floor and underground car park. But when the credit markets closed in the financial crisis of 2008, Hedley’s backers became increasingly nervous.

Hedley stepped down from his role at the listed Hedley Leisure & Gaming Property Fund  earlier this year and last week the group posted a loss of $179 million. Hedley himself went into receivership with debts of about $290 million to Suncorp and ANZ a few months earlier. But Vue, his monument to an era of boomtime development and  cheap credit, still stands.

 Australians are starting to feel more confident about the economy again. Retail sales are holding up, car sales are steady and most of us still are still working. But the unwinding of the two-speed economy, where Queensland and WA roared ahead at the expense of the rest of the country, is continuing apace.

To borrow a line from Neil Young, the stars the burned the brightest are fast beginning to fade away.