National accounts data released late last year highlighted Western Australia’s continued economic resilience.

WA’s domestic economy grew 2.4% over the September 2023 quarter, bringing the economy to its largest size on record and outpacing all other states and territories.

This result was largely driven by the uptick in business investment, which rose 8.8% for the quarter, as a number of large-scale projects continue to progress. On the flipside, household consumption declined for the first time since the onset of the pandemic, falling 0.3%, with elevated interest rates and the high cost of living starting to take effect. However, this is somewhat skewed by the State Government’s recent electricity subsidy, which reduces household consumption and increases government consumption – as a result, government consumption grew a solid 3.2% over the quarter.

WA job vacancies down

Labour market data for November was also released recently, with the number of job vacancies in WA declining to its lowest level since May 2021.

There are now 49,500 job vacancies in the State, down from 52,500 recorded in August and 16,000 less than the peak recorded 18 months ago.

With the number of people unemployed also rising over this time, the number of job vacancies per unemployed person has fallen further, now sitting at 0.81. As an indicator of labour market tightness, this illustrates that the labour market continues to loosen although remains very tight by historical standards.

WA population continues to skyrocket

The latest population data release in December shows WA’s population continues to skyrocket.

The June 2023 quarter saw another 19,724 people added to the State’s population, taking the population growth rate to 3.1%, greater than any other state or territory.

The vast majority of this can be accounted for by net overseas migration, with this group adding a further 14,431 people to the population. This marks the fourth consecutive quarter with an increase of more than 13,000 people from overseas migration, making this the greatest number of people entering from overseas in a one-year period on record.

CCIWA’s Economic reports are available exclusively to CCIWA Complete, Advantage and Corporate Members. For more see CCIWA’s Economic Insight page.