WA Treasurer Ben Wyatt declares State nation’s engine room as unemployment rate falls to nine-month low

The West Australian,
Treasurer Ben Wyatt took a swipe at WA Liberals for talking down the local economy.
Treasurer Ben Wyatt took a swipe at WA Liberals for talking down the local economy.

WA was the only State to record a bump in jobs last month, prompting Treasurer Ben Wyatt to claim the engine room of Australia was firing back up.

About 14,000 West Australians found work last month, which saw the State’s unemployment rate dip to 5.8 per cent.

The seasonably adjusted rate fell from 6.2 per cent in May to sit at its lowest level since October.

There was good news for young people, too, with close to 7000 15 to 24-year-olds securing work in June, resulting in a sharp fall in the youth unemployment rate from 14.1 per cent in May to 11.2 per cent last month.

Mr Wyatt said the McGowan Government had created more than 55,000 jobs since it was elected in March 2017.

“Once again WA is proving itself to be the engine room of the nation as the only State which experienced jobs growth in June,” he said.

“These results also show that the WA public are continuing to ignore the negative rhetoric of Liza Harvey and the Liberals who are consistently trying to talk down the economy and the State.

“All this data shows the McGowan Government’s efforts to get the State’s finances back on track and boost business confidence is starting to pay off for the entire community.

“We still have more work to do but it is pleasing to see the hard work now bearing fruit.”

Despite June’s strong result, the State’s jobless rate remains well above NSW (4.6 per cent) and Victoria (4.8 per cent).

The national rate was unchanged at 5.2 per cent.