Australia’s economy and related exchange traded fund (ETF) may be refined by foreign-born workers, but Australians aren’t too happy that their unemployed are being passed up.

The Immigration Department of Australia issued a report that revealed a 60% increase in the number of migrants who entered Australia in 2008-09 in the employer-sponsored category, report Nicola Berkovic and Paul Maley for The Australian. Construction companies were recruiting overseas so as to obtain highly skilled workers such as engineers and project managers.

John Stutton, Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union national secretary, seems disconcerted by Australian companies that are looking for overseas workers when 35,000 Australians have lost their jobs in the construction sector over the last 12 months. Immigration Minister Chris Evans defends the influx of migrating workers because those workers bring in skills Australia needs.

The impact of this in the long-term is up in the air, but one factor that could weigh on the economy: money paid to migrant workers doesn’t necessarily go back into Australia’s economy.

The Australian economy is doing better than expected and the Central Bank has concluded that it does not need to tamper with benchmark interest rate of 3%, writes Rod McGuirk for Forbes.

One piece of poor economic news came with official data: Australia’s trade deficit has increased to $11.24 billion during the three months through June. The lower world price for Australian iron ore will likely reduce economic growth for the three months by 0.2%. Treasurer Wayne Swan noted a 15.8% fall in export prices during the June quarter.

• iShares MSCI Australia Index (EWA): up 41.7% year-to-date

For more information on Australia, visit our Australia category.

Max Chen contributed to this article.

Tags: Australia, EWA, Global ETFs