Western Australia's unemployment rate fell 0.3 points, to 6.3 per cent, in seasonally adjusted terms in December, as 8,000 people took on new employment.
US stocks have sold off sharply as a brief rally in beaten-down oil prices stalled after US data added to concerns about an oversupplied energy market.
Nearly 100 Western Australian companies entered external administration last November, giving the state its highest share of the national total in nearly a decade.
If Woodside Petroleum is ever looking for a corporate slogan it could borrow a saying from the Dutch philosopher Erasmus: “in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king”.
Australia's biggest iron ore miners are expected to slash dividends next month as the price of the steel-making commodity dropped to $US40 a tonne overnight.
A late rebound in energy and biotech shares has helped push the S&P 500 to a second straight day of gains, while Apple and other technology shares also boosted the market.
US and European stock investors have bought beaten-down shares, at least temporarily looking past another steep drop in oil prices that briefly sent US crude below $US30 a barrel.
The Australian share market has closed in negative territory for its eighth consecutive session, as energy stocks tumbled amid fears of further oil price falls.
South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon has renewed his call for an inquiry into the cause of the dramatic recent fall in the iron ore price while in Perth today, as shares in the state's biggest miners continued to fall.
Sports, politics and business do not share a lot in common but there is one feature that links all three – and that's how a single event can turn a winner into a loser in the blink of an eye.
US stocks have broadly risen, led by Apple, as they rebounded off their worst-ever start to a year and with the corporate earnings season set to kick off.
The Australian share market clawed back some early losses but has still closed more than 1 per cent lower, chalking up its seventh straight session in the red.
US stocks have closed lower, ending a volatile week with their worst five-day start to a year ever, as sliding oil prices and lingering worries about the global economy offset upbeat US job growth.
Gold has fallen further from an earlier nine-week high as stronger-than-expected US payrolls data boosted the US dollar and stock markets, shoring up a recovery in equities.
A volatile day of trading has capped off a brutal New Year start to the Australian share market where the bourse has recorded six straight days of losses.
The Australian share market has slipped below 5,000 at the open, continuing its disappointing week as Wall Street suffered another fall and oil prices slid to a new low.
