Business confidence up after 3 mth slump

Western Australia's strong economic recovery appears to be back on track according to the latest Genesys Wealth Advisers - Chamber of Commerce and Industry Leading Index of WA Economic Activity.

The index has reached a new record high, rising almost 2 per cent during September.

It is now more than 5 per cent higher than a year ago and is at its highest level since March 2010 after falling for three consecutive months.

CCIWA said a rebound in confidence among local businesses was the main reasons for the surge in the index.

A rise of more than 13 per cent in China's industrial production contributed half-a-per-cent of growth to the index.

However, building approvals in WA continued to slump during September, which took 0.05 per cent growth off of the index.

"Although the leading index is pointing to stronger growth over the next year, conditions will remain patchy as the challenges of the rising costs of living, the appreciation of the Australian dollar, higher interest rates and increasing competition for scarce labour begin to bite," said CCI chief economist John Nicolaou.

"Our SME clients are, in general more optimistic about business conditions," said Malcolm Davis from Genesys Wealth Advisers.

"However, they are still experiencing issues, such as retaining quality staff, and gaining access to the necessary finance to help grow their businesses further," Mr Davis said.