Advertisement

Positives to be found in region

Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA chief economist David Nicolauo believes there are positive signs for the Goldfields-Esperance region in a tough economic climate.

Mr Nicolauo yesterday spoke of unexpected growth throughout the region in recent times during his address to the Over the Horizon forum on behalf of CCIWA.

Despite a fall in the price of gold, the outlook for the Goldfields-Esperance region has not been completely bleak, with certain data indicating the economy has remained resilient.

As a result of the volatile nature of the region, Mr Nicolauo presented figures from the past 15 years which demonstrated the economy was expanding at a reasonable rate.

"We have seen rates of growth in this region of about 8 per cent per annum, year on year, for the last decade," he said.

"We've seen a greater population coming into the area than we have seen… as the economy starts to broaden beyond a real focus around some of the resources that come out of the region, particularly nickel and gold.

"Overall, there is employment growth in the region and that's an important sign, particularly considering the challenges that this region has faced with the volatility of commodity prices."

Unemployment has risen in the past year to put the region's jobless rate slighter higher than the State average.

Specifically in Esperance, however, the unemployment rate sits around 2.5 per cent - far lower than most other areas of WA.

Mr Nicolauo also highlighted output figures from the Port of Esperance, which employs about 150 full-time staff.