Jobs advertised on the internet and in newspapers fell for the second consecutive month, and there are no clear signs of the labour market bouncing back in the coming months.
Shares in Perth-based gold mining junior Minera Gold have risen by 25 per cent after the company signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with a private Peruvian entity to utilise a 200 tonne-per-day CIP gold circuit for its Torrecillas gold project in Peru.
Perth-based oil and gas explorer Liquefied Natural Gas has announced plans to raise $15.3 million through a share placement as it looks to advance its Magnolia LNG project in the United States.
Gindalbie Metals has agreed to sell its Shine hematite iron prospect to Mount Gibson Iron for $15 million as it focuses attention on bringing its Karara magnetite project to full production.
Australian shares have lost ground after insurer QBE flagged that it would post a $250 million loss for calendar 2013, prompting shocked investors to wipe more than $4 billion from the value of one of the ASX's 20 biggest companies.
The Australian share market is slightly lower as investors put aside good US jobs figures and strong Chinese trade data and focus on a shock profit warning from insurer QBE.
Gold futures have eased as investors try to determine what impact the continued gains in US hiring will have on the timing of a reduction in Federal Reserve stimulus.
Electoral commissioner Ed Killesteyn is under pressure to quit after an inquiry found serious flaws in the Western Australian Senate election count, which could lead to $13 million being spent on a fresh poll.
The state government has formalised plans for Chinese group Shanghai Zhongfu to develop thousands of hectares of irrigated land in the Kimberley, more than a year after naming the company as its preferred proponent for the land.
Perth-based oil explorer Oilex has announced it has secured a $13.5 million three year equity financing facility with UK-based Darwin Strategic, for drilling at its Cambay onshore oil joint venture project in Gujarat, India.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has rejected spending more public money to keep Holden operating in Australia, amid reports the car maker's American parent company General Motors wants to close Australian operations by 2016.
US stocks have declined again after surprisingly good US economic growth in the third quarter raised expectations the Federal Reserve will hasten a plan to scale back aggressive monetary stimulus.
Karratha's first small bar owner, Bart Parsons, has realised his dream of opening among the traditional pubs and hotels in the northern town, but it has come with a costly sting in the tail.
Global chemical manufacturer Rockwood Holdings is set to acquire a 49 per cent stake in Perth-based Talison Lithium, just less than a year after its proposed $700 million takeover bid for the miner collapsed.
Leederville jeweller Rohan Milne is moving in esteemed circles, having joined two other Perth jewellers and 17 nationally as members of the exclusive diamond association, Diamond Guild Australia.
Mineral sleuth Rox Resources has raised $2.4 million for exploration programs and working capital in a share purchase plan, the company announced today.
