Western Australia’s economy is continuing to bounce back solidly behind its hard border, with new Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data released today showing 88 per cent of jobs in the State lost due to COVID-19 were recovered by August 22.
The ABS Payroll Jobs data also showed WA has had the lowest number of jobs lost since mid-March at one per cent, compared to 4.2 per cent nationally.
Today’s job results follow other recent economic data releases that highlight the strength of the Western Australian economy behind its hard border and the significant role of WA in softening the economic blow to the Australian economy.
ABS National Accounts data released last week showed Western Australia’s domestic economy was the only State to experience growth for the 2019-20 year, growing 1.1 per cent. This was the fastest growth in seven years and highlights the strength of the Western Australian economy prior to COVID 19.
States with open borders faired significantly worse than those with closed borders in the June quarter, with New South Wales and Victoria both contracting by around 8.5 per cent. This compares to a six per cent contraction in State Final Demand for WA in the June quarter.
When comparing our economy to other established economies around the world, WA is in the top performing economies, highlighting the State’s response to COVID-19 as world-leading.
In contrast, the UK economy contracted 20.4 per cent, the Euro Area contracted by 12.1 per cent, and the US economy fell by 9.1 per cent in the June quarter.
Western Australia’s contribution to the national economy is also helping Australia to fare far better than established economies around the world, with the national economy contracting by seven per cent in the June quarter.
As stated by Treasurer Ben Wyatt:
“Economic data continues to highlight how Western Australia’s response to COVID-19 and our hard border closure is supporting our economy to bounce back far stronger than expected.
“WA’s economic performance is also outperforming most advanced economies around the world, demonstrating that our response has been world-leading.
“There is no doubt that the global economy is suffering under the impacts of COVID-19, however, WA is faring much better than most.
“What is clear is the best economic policy is controlling the spread of the virus.
“Our $5.5 billion Recovery Plan is helping drive WA’s economic and social recovery across different sectors throughout the whole State to ensure we can recover, stronger than ever.”
