Another economic indicator is pointing to a two-speed economy at play in Western Australia, with new car sales dropping off 21.6 per cent in April, following a 17.9 per cent drop in May.
In May, a total of 8,703 new cars were sold in WA, down from 10,604 the previous year, according to Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries statistics.
For the year to date, new car sales have dropped from 48,104 in May 2010 to 43,497 in May 2011, a drop of 9.6 per cent.
Nationally, new car sales slipped 13.2 per cent in May, as compared to April, resulting in a 5.3 per cent yearly slip.
The biggest drop in WA was in passenger car sales, which dropped 1,540 from the levels seen in April, for a year-on-year fall of 4,302.
Sports utility vehicles slipped from 2467 in May 2010 to 2,107 in May 2011.
In signs of continued strength in the resources sector, there was a drop of five heavy commercial vehicles sold in WA over the same period, while light commercial vehicle sales were also largely steady, increasing by 4 on April's figures.
Australia's most popular carmaker, Holden, saw its sales dip 19.1 per cent compared to last year, while even Toyota, favourite of resources and mining companies, couldn't arrest the slide, dropping 9.4 per cent on the previous year.
Ford sales were down 13.4 per cent on the previous year.
