This is because, owing to the continuation of monetary easing over the past seven years, there has been significant improvement in the employment situation, prolonged labor shortages have encouraged firms to change their behavior, and a virtuous economic cycle has been operating by means of an increasing trend in business fixed investment.
Mining investment is relatively intensive in its use of labour. Putting the mining infrastructure in place drew upon workers with a range of construction and engineering skills. It also employed people with skills that we wouldn’t normally associate with mining, in industries such as business services, transport and manufacturing.