Peel business, City of Mandurah welcome positive jobs news

On Thursday, the Federal government released figures from the Department of Employment comparing employment in the region from the 2017 September quarter to the same period in 2016.

For the City of Mandurah, the unemployment rate dropped from 11.6 per cent to 6.8 per cent (a drop of 4.8 per cent).

In the Shire of Murray unemployment dropped from 10.7 per cent to 6.5 per cent.

The suburb of Mandurah saw a drop of 9.6 per cent from 24.5 per cent to 14.9 per cent while Greenfields posted a fall from 17 per cent to 9.5 per cent.

Peel Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s chief executive Andrew McKerrell said the drop in unemployment was good news for business and would boost business confidence if sustained over the next few quarters.

“With unemployment dropping, resulting in an increase in community confidence, the increase suggested by these figures is bound to be good news for local retailers and service providers leading into the busy tourism season,” he said.

“However unemployment must remain at the point it is, if not decrease, whilst the local population continues to support the business community through local spend in order for considerable confidence to restored.

“Local spend can have a massive flow-on effect in the community; purchasing from one allows another to do the same, and so on.”

Mr McKerrell said he expected a a boost in conditions for business even though some of the newly employed may be FIFO.

City of Mandurah Mayor Rhys Williams also welcomed the bounce in employment.

“These recent figures are good news for Mandurah, and we hope this trend continues in the right direction,” he said.

“We need to remain focussed on creating opportunities to drive the economy in the right direction, and create full-time employment prospects for our community.

“We need to create chances for people to get full-time, meaningful, long-term jobs, which we know goes a long way towards shaping one’s identity, self-esteem and hope.”