Western Australia continues to lead the nation in economic growth, according to the latest retail trade figures and the ANZ jobs survey released yesterday.
Premier Carmen Lawrence said today that retail growth in Western Australia remained well up on last year, despite a fall in the November level compared with the previous month.
While the national seasonally adjusted figure showed an increase of 0.01 per cent, it was clear from the November retail trade figures that Western Australia continued to outperform all other States.
The latest figures reinforced the findings of a New South Wales Treasury analysis in December that showed WA outranked other States in terms of growth in retail turnover, residential building approvals and lowest inflation. Western Australian figures showed:
· a 7.3 per cent increase in retail turnover, the highest increase of any State for the year to November. This was despite a 4.1 per cent fall in the November 1992 level. The national increase was 1.3 per cent;
· in the three months to November 1992, the value of retail turnover in Western Australia was 10.3 per cent higher than the previous three months. This was the biggest increase in any State, and almost double the national figure of 5.7 per cent.
The ANZ survey showed an increase of 26 per cent for WA in the number of job advertisements placed in newspapers in December 1992 compared with December 1991.
The national annual increase was 18.9 per cent.
Dr Lawrence said there was no doubt that Western Australia was showing all other States a clean pair of heels in the economic recovery race.
"It shows WA has come strongly out of the recession and we are now entering a period of sustained economic growth," she said.
"There is no doubt we can look to further progress with confidence, as other figures and surveys recently released confirm.
"As well, WA's trade surplus continues to grow and now is more than $10 billion a year.
"For Western Australian residents, these indicators mean more confidence, more investment and more jobs."
