Business confidence brings jobs boost for SA, says BankSA State Monitor Survey
CONFIDENCE in the South Australian economy is leading to real outcomes, with the number of businesses creating jobs in the past three months now at its highest level since 2010, according to a BankSA survey released today.
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CONFIDENCE in the South Australian economy is leading to “real outcomes” with the number of businesses creating jobs in the past three months now at its highest level since 2010, according to a BankSA survey released today.
Overall business confidence remained steady at an eight-year high at 119.0 index points compared to 119.2 in July, according to the BankSA State Monitor survey.
The survey, conducted by an independent research firm The Sexton Marketing Group and released to The Advertiser, found a sharp rise in the number of businesses which have created additional employment in the past three months and those intending to create more jobs over the next three months.
The number of businesses that intend to create more jobs over the next three months has jumped to the highest level since 2007.
“Business confidence results showed that increased confidence in the South Australian economy was now leading to real outcomes,” BankSA chief executive Nick Reade said.
“This year has marked a turnaround for South Australian businesses.
“Since dropping to a four-year low in August 2017, business confidence has steadily grown.
“Importantly, this confidence is now translating to investment and growth with businesses
starting to employ more workers.
“This is welcome news for jobseekers and the economy overall, particularly with the intent to create more employment in the lead-up to Christmas at its highest level in more than a decade,” he said
The employment findings are consistent with figures released by the Australian Bureau of
Statistics in October, showing that South Australia’s unemployment rate had fallen to 5.5 per cent, now the third lowest figure behind NSW and Victoria.
The September quarter Business SA — William Buck Survey of Business Expectations, released last week, also showed South Australian businesses had outpaced their state counterparts in future confidence for the first time in more than five years as operating conditions improve. That result compared to a year ago when SA business confidence was lower than that of businesses in Tasmania, NSW and Queensland.
It also comes just over a month after the Sunday Mail’s Your Say SA survey revealed growing optimism about SA as a good place to do business.
Adelaide rehabilitation services business ProActiv People Solutions — a state winner in the Telstra Business Awards — recently won a five-year contract with the Federal government to deliver Disability Employment Services across metropolitan Adelaide.
“We have opened seven new offices since July across metropolitan Adelaide employing 8 staff and are looking to employ a further seven people within the next 24 months,” co-founder Nives Matkovic said.
“We see DES and (its application to) NDIS as perfect partners in our growth plans,” she said.
The BankSA State Monitor Survey also found consumer confidence dipped slightly from the four-year high posted in the July survey — down 3.1 points from 109.4 to 106.3.
Importantly though, consumer confidence remains above the 100-point baseline, as it has
done for all three BankSA State Monitor surveys in 2018 — a positive turnaround since
hitting a 20-year low of 96.3 points in November last year.
Confidence levels in the rural regions were mixed with the business index score for rural SA down 8.0 points from 115.9 to 107.9 attributed to challenging drought conditions, while overall consumer confidence in the regions rose 7.3 points from 102.6 to 109.9.
Other key findings from the latest BankSA State Monitor include:
The state’s manufacturing sector has reported its highest confidence level since 2004;
Consumers aged between 18-24 are the most confident in the state;
Male consumers are more confident than female consumers for the sixth consecutive survey; and
White collar workers are more confident than blue collar workers for the eighth
consecutive survey.