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Job boom turns gloomy for NSW By John Garnaut August 12, 2005 NSW lost 35,000 full-time jobs last month despite a record jobs boom sweeping the rest of the country, prompting warnings the state could be in "technical recession". The jobs figures provide the latest confirmation that high property prices have forced thousands out of the state and caused a tumble in housing construction and a slump elsewhere. If the slump continues, the outlook for economic and job security will deteriorate. However, the Premier, Morris Iemma, said yesterday he believed the abolition of the vendor tax would boost the economy and investment. The number of full-time jobs in NSW grew 1.2 per cent since July last year, compared with 3 per cent in Victoria, 5.4 per cent in Queensland and 8.2 per cent in Western Australia. "It's a distinct possibility that NSW is in so-called technical recession," said the chief economist at ANZ, Saul Eslake. "NSW has become the lead in the [national] economy's saddle bags." An economist with the Commonwealth Bank, Michael Workman, said NSW's economy probably shrank in the June quarter as it did in March, meaning the state was technically in recession. "It's a pretty good chance of it happening when the data is released on September 7," he said. "You're lucky if you've got a full-time job in NSW." |
