You asked for a good news story. Here is a list of some good news, green shoots we are seeing in the Victorian economy. Over the course of 2014, 79,100 jobs were created in Victoria – that means more jobs were created in Victoria in 2014 than were created nationwide the previous year (2013). The Victorian unemployment rate decreased from 6.8 per cent in November to 6.5 per cent in December 2014. · Employment growth accelerated in Victoria over 2014 – 79,100 jobs were created compared to 7,800 in 2013. · In December 2014 employment in Australia grew by 37,400 persons, with the strongest growth in Victoria (30,800 persons). · Retail trade in Victoria grew for the sixth consecutive month in November 2014, to be a healthy 5.7 per cent higher through the year, making it the second-best performing state in the nation. · Victoria has also led the charge in recent months generating building approvals – indicating that there is a steady stream of work in the pipeline for the residential construction. In November 2014 (the latest available data), building approvals rose by 19.7 per cent in Victoria to a record high, led by unit approvals. It follows a strong rise in the previous month. This is the strongest back-to-back monthly rise in nearly 14 years. · Business conditions in Victoria are currently at two year highs (+8 points) and have consistently been above the average over the past two years. · The lower Australian dollar will continue to help strengthen trade in tourism exports coming from Victoria. Tourism-related exports from Victoria increased by 12.6 per cent and education-related travel from Victoria increased by 7.9 per cent. · The lower Australian dollar is also expected to provide a boost for manufacturing exports coming from Victoria. Consistent with this, the value of merchandise exports increased 11.0 per cent in from Victoria in the year to November 2014.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 23:16:39 +0000