Economic sparkle returns for Western Australia [IMG] WA...

Economic sparkle returns for Western Australia


WA Treasurer Ben Wyatt. Picture: Colin Murty.

• The Australian
• 12:00AM December 7, 2017
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• ANDREW BURRELL
  
  WA Chief Reporter
  Perth
  @AndrewBurrell7
  

Western Australia’s battered economy has emerged from four years of recession, sparking predictions that the resource-rich state is heading for a “very exciting” turnaround in growth and job creation.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said yesterday that state final demand in WA grew 0.9 per cent in the September quarter — its strongest result since June 2015.
It is the first time state final demand has grown in two consecutive quarters in WA since 2013, when the mining construction boom came to an abrupt halt.
State final demand measures the domestic side of the economy and does not include WA’s massive export sector.
According to the data, WA was second behind NSW for economic growth in the quarter. Treasurer Ben Wyatt told a business lunch in Perth yesterday that the data was “extraordinarily positive”.
He said private sector capital spending had also recently increased for the first time in three years, while online job vacancies were up almost 18 per cent in October.
He said employment had increased by 38,000 in the past year, with almost all of these jobs full-time roles. Treasury forecasts for employment would be upgraded in the mid-year budget review to be handed down later this month.
“All of our leading indicators are starting to look very, very good,” he told the Committee for Economic Development of Australia function. “We are now entering a very exciting time in WA.”
WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief economist Rick Newnham said the figures showed confidence had returned. “Although we still have a long way to go to reach the boom levels of 2012, this is positive news for WA’s economy, which has been struggling to transition from mining construction to production,” he said.
“The domestic economy most strongly reflects the economic environment that WA households experience — as the domestic economy grows it is good for jobs, business investment and household spending.”