Recently, though, the labour market here has begun to improve, with employment increasing by 2½ per cent over the past year and the unemployment rate having come off its peak. There has been strong growth in jobs in education and health, as there has been around the country. Turning to non-mining investment, the state-level data are less timely.
We do know, however, that in most states total business investment picked up through 2017, with particularly strong growth in non-residential construction (Graph 3). Here in Western Australia, the picture is a little different, given the ongoing unwinding of the mining investment boom. Over the past year, total business investment in Western Australia has been broadly steady, after earlier sharp declines.