Job Growth in Newcastle without the Mining Boom

BY JESSICA ROUSE

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the Hunter's job growth isn't thanks to a mining boom, but rather her government's infrastructure spend in the region.

The State Government's $650 million investment in the city for infastructure has doubled the number of jobs throughout the region.

The latest stats from the Hunter Research Foundation Centre mirror the numbers showing the Hunter had an annual growth of 7.4 per cent when it comes to full time jobs in the region.

Gladys Berejiklian says in the past 2 1/2 years alone 37,000 jobs have been created.

"We are for the first time having a boom in Newcastle and the Hunter without a mining boom. This is the first time Newcastle has been able to stand on its own without going through a mining boom. I'm so proud of that,"

"This is the first time in Newcastle's history where Newcastle hasn't had to depend on the mining boo to get ahead."

Premier Gladys Berejiklian in Newcastle yesterday. Image David Threlfo Twitter.

 "We've seen at least $2 billion in private investment coming off the back of the government's contribution and that's resulting in a whole range of construction jobs, engineering, tradies, it's hard to find people to work for us up here because there's so much going on which a good challenge to have," said Premier Berejiklian.

The Premier also said the big infrastructure spend has triggered big events in the region such as the inaugural Newcastle 500 Supercars event in November and big sporting games which is all only going to increase as the city moves into the future.

"We're really thrilled that that's what holds the future of Newcastle. It's a multiplicity of jobs, multiple sectors growing and that's what we want to see. I don't want to see people have to jump on a train every morning and travel long distances because they want to get the job of their dreams,"

"I want people to get the jobs of their dreams in Newcastle, and that's the future we're building," said Premier Berejiklian.

EARLIER:

It's all About Building for the Future: Premier Berejiklian Thrilled with Newcastle Interchange

Williamtown Innovation Hub Officially Open

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The latest hub of innovation and technology has officially opened in Williamtown this morning.

The Williamtown Innovation Hub, also called "DSA-18", will support the research and development of new technologies for the defence industry.

It's a collaboration of the University of Newcastle with the support of the state government who contributed $1.5 million to the hub to drive innovation.

The hub has desks for both defence workers and university researchers, meeting rooms and will host networking events and seminars to provide opportunities for engagement with local and national companies in the defence, security, IT and transport sectors.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald says the innovation hub will make the latest technologies available to researchers to develop bigger and better things.

"It's really important that people have a place to incubate those ideas if you like and bounce them off colleagues who work in the industry and see if they're adaptable and see if the commercialisation is possible and that can only happen if you're working closely together," said Scot MacDonald.

The Hunter region's defence sector employs more than 4,600 people and contributes $1.3 billion to the region's economy.

"This will get the academics and professors working out the hub making themselves available to people who have got ideas that might be picked up by the defence industry. A lot of the innovation really does come from if you like, grassroots level," said Scot MacDonald.

Artists impression.

A mixed bag for the Hunter economy

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The latest economic snapshot for the region has been released by the Hunter Research Foundation Centre.

It's a mixed bag, with the June quarter bringing subdued income growth and consumption, improved business confidence despite a decline in household confidence and a fall in the unemployment rate.

Lead Economist DR Anthea Bill says the state of the region's unemployment and employment rates are quite positive.

"The Hunter economy added 4,500 jobs and that was a growth of 1.4 per cent so that's in line with the state and a lot of those new jobs that were added to the economy were full-time jobs and growth was strongest in males and over the quarter male part-time employment actually contracted."

It's good news for first home buyers, but not so good for home owners - there's been a 2 per cent decline in Lake Macquarie and a 5 per cent drop largely in Dungog, Port Stephens and Singleton.

"The median house price across the Hunter declined in the June quarters of 2.4 per cent decline so that's the first time we've had a negative quarterly growth in median house price since September 2015 and that's led to a slowing of the annual growth rate to 6 per cent," said DR Anthea Bill.

However, while there are a few positives, DR Anthea Bill says apprenticeships for young people have been on a steady downward trend since 2012 with a 24 per cent decline.

"I understand there was some removal of employer incentives around that time period and there have also been overall shifts in employment away from manufacturing which has been a very strong provider of apprenticeships and traineeships in the region. I heard commentary also around the wage rate for apprentices and trainees."

Latest snapshot of the Hunter economy

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The Hunter Reseach Foundation has released its latest snapshot of the Hunter economy for the first quarter of 2017. It's been a positive first quarter with businesses being more innovative, house price growth continuing, and consumers saving more.

The latest research found that businesses are being more innovative. Around 46 per cent of the region's businesses have introduced new or improved products or services in the first quarter of this year which is the highest proportion since the foundation started collecting data in 2009.

"There was a sizeable jump in firms introducing new and improved products or services within their own industry or Australia although not so much in new to the world offerings. When we look at our data we can see that Hunter businesses who were innovating are also more likely to be profitable exporting overseas but also more likely to be employing more workers," said lead economist Dr Anthea Bill.

Retail figures were lower than expected with Hunter consumers spending less and saving more. In terms of personal finances, households' expectations are set to remain steady for the next 12 months. According to the research, low wages are mostly to blame for the reduction in spending. 

"Wage growth is at historically low levels so even though we've seen an improvement in the world economy, nationally we're not seeing much of a shift in consumption patterns and its sort of an ongoing weakness in the economy, so I think we need to see some improvement in wages to see an improvement in household spending patterns," said Dr Anthea Bill.

On the employment side of the economy, the research found there had been a 1 per cent fall in employment in the first quarter of this year, reversing the rise from the last quarter of 2016. Unemployment also rose to 5.5 per cent in March bringing it back in line with the state average. 

Local councillor wants to bring Google to Cessnock

BY GARY-JON LYSAGHT and JESSICA ROUSE

Cessnock Councillor Jay Suvaal is hoping Googe's search for a new location will bring them to Cessnock.

Business giant Google announced they're shifting its Australian headquarters and with Amazon's imminent arrival to Australian shores there are calls to coax both heavyweights to the Hunter.

Jay Suvaal believes if one or both of the business giants move into Cessnock the unemployment rate would disappear and the economy would increase.

"In the past, we've had to diversify from the mining industry and we continue to do that so the opportunity for locals to gain employment is great and gives them the chance to look at other areas where they can focus their expertise."

Unemployment and the economy aren't the only draw cards, the councillor says not only is housing in a great position, there's plenty of land and plenty of access to the area.

"With the Hunter Expressway, we are relatively close to both Newcastle and Sydney. In terms of housing prices for workers, the prices are fantastic at the moment. The opportunities to build and to develop are there and for associated industries to come along as well because we've got land particularly in the Kurri area," said Jay Suvaal.

Cessnock councillor Jay Suvaal and Cessnock Chamber of Commerce
president Geoff Walker Image Cessnock Advertiser

Upper Hunter economy on the up

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The Upper Hunter's economy is on the up with a falling unemployment rate and a rise in commodity prices increasing confidence in the region.

Changes to the resources sector are thought to have played a big part in the results according to the Hunter Research Foundation Centre's (HRF) latest report.

There's been a massive turnaround in the economy with the jobless rate falling from 8.6 per cent in December 2015 to just 4 per cent last December.

Lead economist from HRF Dr Anthea Bill says the rising employment rate is a huge win for the region and it's thanks to the movements in commodity prices, particularly improvements in the price of thermal coal.

"It's softened a little bit in the beginning of 2017 but even over the year from March 2017 to March 2016, there was a 54 per cent improvement in thermal coal prices and that's obviously flowing through into direct employment and sub contractors."

Image theherald.com.au

She also says both consumer and business confidence are to thank for the region's better economy.

"We can see there's been a sustained improvement in business confidence and rising measures of business performance, profitability and trading and also rising forward facing measures such as hiring intentions and capital investment expenditure predictions in the December quarter."

Even resident's expectations for the region's economy are on the rise for the next three months at its highest since 2005 with business owners confident the local economy has and will improve for the short and long term.

"Generally, overall there's been renewed regional confidence, so we've seen a big jump in business confidence in terms of the regional outlook, so the outlook for the Hunter overall, and we've seen market improvements in householders confidence better than it has been for more than a decade," said Dr Anthea Bill.

However, housing figures were the weak link, with the median house price falling from around $345,000 in December 2015 to around $328,000 last year.

Confidence in Hunter after GDP rise

BY GARY-JON LYSAGHT

A University of Newcastle economist is confident the rise in gross domestic product (GDP) during the December quarter is good for the Hunter.

Dr David Savage

Behavioural economist Dr David Savage said the GDP increase will also help reduce youth unemployment across the region, which currently sits at more than 13 percent.

"Youth unemployment is up everywhere," he said.

"When the whole economy grows, you start to find the lower end jobs start to improve as well.  So, you'll find the local cafes start to hire more, the corner stores are hiring more ...  because more products are being sold.

"When we have GDP growth, more people get employed, more people want to buy things - because they have more money - the general economy starts to grow.

"We start to see wage increases and start to see the standard of living increase with it."

The nation's GDP rose by 1.1 percent during the December quarter, quashing fears of a recession after a drop by 0.5 percent during the September quarter - the first drop since the Global Financial Crisis.

Treasurer Scott Morrison made the announcement yesterday, adding it has become the envy of the world.

"These growth figures say we are are at the top of the pack," Mr Morrison said.

But, Mr Morrison added that not every region in Australia was feeling the benefits of higher GDP, and Dr Savage believed the Hunter has been one, citing the downturn in the mining industry.

"When the mining economy doesn't run so well, you'll find that [mining dominate places like] Western Australia suffers, especially the Hunter - that it is so very mining sector based - and parts of Queensland have the same problem," he said.

"If the mining sector isn't firing, unemployment rates are very high, they take a very long time to catch up and we have this conversation of a two-speed economy.

"But it works in both directions, so when we do have a mining boom, you'll that these areas are doing very, very well."

However, he also said low employment in the mining sector is not related to youth unemployment, because youth employment often comes "from the general sector".

What has been boasted as another boom for the region's economy is the upcoming V8 Supercars race in November, and Dr Savage said it will help funnel huge revenue into the local economy.

He said a good case study was the Gold Coast 600, where there was - and still is - community disquiet around the race, but strong business enthusiasm.

"For businesses, it's really good and that sort of thing can spark a lot of tourism and money flow for even that short period of time," he said.

"It's also very good promotion [for Newcastle] Australia-wide.  Now that the Supercars are going to different places like New Zealand and China, we also get telecasted to those regions.

"So it's good for tourism across the board."