Western Australia’s economy is continuing to bounce back solidly behind its hard border, with new Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data released showing 88 per cent of jobs in the State lost due to COVID-19 were recovered by August 22 2020.
The ABS Payroll Jobs data also showed WA has had the lowest number of jobs lost since mid-March 2020 at one per cent, compared to 4.2 per cent nationally.
The 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 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 2020 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 2020 quarter.
Source: WA Government