News Articles for Australian Bureau of Statistics

Consumer confidence has barely moved in response to the federal election result, which has seen Labor secure sufficient seats to run a majority government.

THE dust is just starting to settle on a federal election won by a Labor Party that stood on a platform of climate change, cost of living, gender equity, and building Australia's skills base.

Economists expect figures will show business investment picked up further in the March quarter, providing a boost to growth in the upcoming national accounts.

The unemployment rate in WA has fallen to 2.9 per cent in April, amid an environment of soaring inflation.

Retailers enjoyed a buoyant sales period during April compared to a year earlier, but ballooning inflation is eating into business operations.

Urbis says WA's population could rise faster than the government expects, as jobs figures remain at boom levels.

Wages in WA have performed worse than any state in the year to March, and were running more than 5 per cent behind inflation.

Perth voted the preferred national capital to invest in property in the next 12 months.

Inflation in Perth has hit the highest level since 1990 at 7.6 per cent, with rising homebuilding costs a key contributor.

Confidence eased slightly in the past week and could fall further as the latest inflation data highlights the extent of cost of living pressures.

The unemployment rate among women in Western Australia is just 3 per cent, the lowest since 2008, with the state posting a sharp improvement in the jobless rate in March.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has just released its latest survey on the household impacts of COVID-19 in February 2022, and the findings suggest that Australia's labour markets are still a long way from recovery.

The March ANZ job advertisement series is likely to point to a further decline in the jobless rate and quicker than being predicted by the RBA and Treasury.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics says there were 423,500 job vacancies in February, around 200,000 more than was seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Retail sales took a battering in Western Australia in February, down 2.9 per cent.

Repeated government promises to help households facing financial pressures have failed to lift confidence or tame inflation fears.

The National Skills Commission says job advertisements on the internet rose by a further 3.6 per cent in February.

Western Australia's dwelling approvals have dropped by 20 per cent in January, with the national figure falling 28 per cent.

WA's internal economy grew just 0.1 per cent in the December quarter as spending on mining equipment slowed, while national GDP rose 3.4 per cent.

WA appears set for a political makeover at the next federal election, with tax reform, integrity measures and action on climate change confronting whichever party forms government.

Consumer confidence dropped 2.6 per cent in the past week as the war in Ukraine began and storms battered Australia's east coast.

Retail spending in Western Australia jumped 4.7 per cent month-on-month in January, while interstate consumers showed some caution.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison won't freeze fuel excise, even as global oil prices near $US100 per barrel with Russia and Ukraine on the brink of all-out war.

Annual wages grew 2.3 per cent as of the December quarter, the highest since mid-2019, but still lagged well behind the rate of inflation at 3.5 per cent.

The impact of January's Omicron case surge on the labour force has been laid bare, with hours worked dropping almost 9 per cent, while unemployment remains at a 13-year low.

Australia's construction industry suffered a slump over December and January due to the impact of the Omicron variant, continuing the sector's volatile run over the past six months.

Retail sales fell 3.5 per cent in Western Australia in December, amid a soft month across the nation as Omicron hit.

Putting aside inevitable COVID-19 wildcards, all indicators point to the Western Australian labour market leading the country in 2022.

Preserving the state's mineral wealth will be of paramount importance in the months ahead.

Perth has posted its highest inflation rate in 20 years, at 5.7 per cent in 2021, as national prices lifted 3.5 per cent.

Economists are still confident of a further drop in the unemployment rate and a relatively solid rise in employment when the December labour force figures are released on Thursday.

Investor lending in WA has risen 95 per cent in the 12 months to November 2021.

Retail sales soared by 7.3 per cent in November after last year's easing of COVID-19 restrictions, but there are signs the subsequent emergence of the Omicron variant has since curbed spending.

WA shows a 1.1 per cent drop in dwelling approvals, while nationally there was a 3.6 per cent rise.

Recent state final demand data shows that Western Australia's domestic economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the September quarter.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics says the value of the nation's housing stock surpassed $9 trillion for the first time in the September quarter.

Targeted action plans providing more tailored support will form the centrepiece of the government's new plan to help people with disability.

Rising consumer spending has helped Western Australia's domestic economy grow 0.6 per cent in the September quarter, while the national economy shrank 1.8 per cent.

Dwelling approvals in WA dropped by 3 per cent in October, stabilising from a 21 per cent drop the previous month, Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows.

Recent transactions show investors are coming back to WA after a significant drop.