Miners to lead WA employment boost

Employers are expected to add more staff in the first three months of 2019 than at any time in the past four years in Western Australia, according to new research by recruitment firm Manpower Group.

Manpower’s research showed WA employers’ net employment outlook was likely to rise by 11 percentage points in the first three months of 2019, improving by 3 per cent on the previous quarter and 2 per cent compared with the same time last year.

The net employment outlook figure is determined by subtracting the percentage of employers who anticipate a decrease in employment over the quarter from the percentage of employers expecting to add staff.

Nationally, the strongest labour markets are anticipated in Victoria and Tasmania with outlook gains of 16 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively.

The weakest hiring intentions are reflected in the South Australia, with an outlook increase of 10 per cent, a decline of two percentage points in comparison with the first quarter of 2018.

Mining and construction as the best performing sector in the country, with an outlook rise of 22 per cent, while manufacturing was the worst, with an outlook of +7 per cent.

The survey was conducted by interviewing a sample of 1,500 employers across the country.