A new report by the Australia Institute shows that employment and jobs growth fell in regional Queensland during the mining construction boom.

Despite an unprecedented 400 percent increase in mining investment from 2010 to 2013, by 2015 employment in regional Queensland fell to below 2010 levels.

While employment increased in a few mining intensive regions including Mackay and Outback Queensland, these jobs came largely at the expense of jobs in non-mining regions such as Cairns and Wide Bay and overall unemployment rose.