Although the economy may be slowing down, Perth jobs in engineering construction seem unaffected.

According to economists, these positions will remain strong due to the fact that the state government has set aside a significant amount of money to be spent on the city’s infrastructure.

Recent figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the amount of engineering construction done throughout the country from January to March equaled $13.8 billion, which is a seasonally adjusted increase of 7.2 percent from the previous quarter.

Michael Workman, senior economist with Commonwealth Bank, said that the thriving mining sector can explain the jump in this field.

“Geographically it is mainly in Western Australia and Queensland,” he explained.

Peter Jones, chief economist with Master Builders Australia, predicts that the amount of engineering work that will be completed before the end of the 2007-2008 fiscal year will total over $60 billion.

He went on to say that, “the outlook should stay bright as state governments up their spending on infrastructure and industry attempts to work though the massive pipeline of resources-related work yet to be done.”

At the end of March the amount of planned engineering work that had yet to be done amounted to $51.6 billion. This figure is up by $20 billion from the previous year. Extra spending in the industry translates to extra jobs in Perth and elsewhere in Australia.

Other sectors that are reaping the benefits of government spending include construction and material processing, both of which Workman says will continue to generate new positions.

“It is likely to mean that jobs and wages growth in those sectors stays firm even though the more interest-rate-sensitive parts of the economy slow,” he said. “So any rise in the national unemployment rate through the second half of 2008 may be relatively mild.”

Nationally,Pe the amount of private-sector engineering work completed by March equaled $8.9 billion, which is an 8.2 percent increase from the previous quarter. During the same time the amount of public sector work increased by 5.4 percent and totaled $4.9 billion.

Labels: Perth jobs