Jobs to be lost as mining investment shrinks: economist Job losses are expected in Brisbane with mining investment in Queensland due to fall 40 per cent in the next five years, according to a leading economist. BIS Shrapnel chief economist Frank Gelper said the downturn in investment would be offset by an increase in mining production but that would not be enough to save jobs in the capital city. "We're seeing a downturn in mining investment and that's where all the jobs are," Mr Gelper said. He said job losses would occur in Brisbane rather than regional Queensland as a result. Mr Gelper could not put a figure on the number of expected job losses, saying only that unemployment in Queensland was set to rise above 6 per cent. "It's the engineering consultancies, the legal and accounting companies, but also design and all of the services you need to put together mining investment," Mr Gelper said. We employ a lot more people in the investment phase than the operational phase. There will be solid growth, we will be pumping out a lot more coal, but weak employment. The unemployment rate remained stable in Queensland at 5.9 per cent in October, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy chief executive Michael Catchpole said one in 10 mining professionals were unemployed after a slowing in project expansion. He told the Australian Financial Review the employment downturn was the result of big mining companies focusing on existing operations rather than exploration and expansion. Mr Catchpole said exploration geologists, mining engineers, minerals processing engineers and environmental scientists working in mining, rather than the oil and gas industry, would be affected. According to BIS Shrapnel's Long Term Forecasts Report, released on Monday, national economic growth will be limited to 2.5 per cent over the next two years, with the stubbornly high dollar delaying any recovery. Mr Gelper said Queensland was most exposed to the impacts of the high Australian dollar. "My fear is that the dollar will not come down quickly enough, so we'll enter a soft patch," he said. There's not going to be a big collapse ... because the growth will be underpinned by strong mining production. But when the dollar falls, Queensland will be one of the major beneficiaries, because Queensland has very strong trade-exposed industries, export and import industries.