GOLD COAST LEADS ECONOMIC CHARGE

THE Gold Coast is described as ‘leading the charge’ in to positive economic territory in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland (CCIQ) Pulse Survey of Business Conditions.

The Queensland business confidence index rose 5.1 percentage points in the survey’s 12 month outlook, with general business conditions and sales revenue all improved.

“The Gold Coast was amongst the better performers across the regions … it is no longer the poor cousin of South East Queensland,” says Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland senior policy analyst Megan Johns (pictured).

Sales and revenue index for the December quarter improved 3.7 points to 53.7 in the December quarter, while rises in the profitability (up 6 points to 49.8), employment levels (up 1.9 points to 47.6) and capital expenditure (up 1.4 to 40.9) indicators show there is progress towards positive territory.

Johns says the Coast is among the leaders in these fields in today’s report.

“Gold Coast has historically been amongst the bottom of the pack in terms of the regional analysis and the city has been struggling for 18 months now so it is really positive to see across all the indicators the Gold Coast has moved into strengthening and growing territory,” says Johns.

“It is also worth highlighting employment levels strengthened on the Gold Coast.”

Also released today was the ABS Labour Force Data, showing Queensland’s trend unemployment rate fell for a third consecutive month to 5.9 per cent in January.

The results of the CCIQ study were seasonally adjusted, taking into account what is the peak tourism season.

“Even with those normal season boom times the average index still improved,” says Johns.

“All the right messages are out there in the economy and we are certainly hopeful it puts us in a good spot for ongoing improvement across the 2013 year.”

The results are some of the best seen since the Global Financial Crisis and Johns believes they signal a turnaround.

“The chamber is quietly confident the signals show there is finally a return to positive growth; the right signals are coming out of international markets and there is a bit of a turnaround happening.

The survey was undertaken before the state’s latest catastrophic flood, cautions Johns, which could have a slight weakening effect on business conditions over the next three months.