The number of mining jobs in the Mid-Western Region has more than doubled over a five-year period, and unemployment has been steadily falling since 2005, with around 8,600 people employed at the last estimate.
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These details and more about the district are now instantly available to residents, businesspeople and potential newcomers, through Mid-Western Regional Council’s new economic profile website.
Council’s economic development officer Julie Robertson said the statistics had been available to council for some years and had proved so useful that she decided to make the information publicly available.
“Businesses, industries, investors are all able to access this information and make business decisions,” she said.
The figures show employment in mining growing from 603 jobs in 2006 to 1,339 jobs in 2011.
Mrs Robertson said attracting new industry to the region was critical to maintaining its growth and prosperity, and accurate information was essential to help businesses make a confident choice about the Mid-Western Region.
By providing accurate statements about the region’s current and future economic situation, she said the data had helped council make the case for major grants to fund projects such as the Ulan Road and Cope Road upgrades.
Businesses and individuals will now be able to use the same information to see local business opportunities, the size of the workforce, the strength of related industries and more.
Mrs Robertson said she had multiple enquiries every week from businesses considering investing in Mudgee, and she would now be able to direct them to reliable data to give them confidence in their choice.
The information can also be taken by businesses to investors or the bank as evidence of the real opportunities available in the region.
As the information is updated as new statistics are released, it can also be used to monitor growth and change in the region.
Finally, Mrs Robertson said the information was interesting for residents, and easy to understand, providing an insight into the current state of the region.
The details are available at www.economicprofile.com.au/midwestern, a website maintained by economic development software company Remplan.
The Mid-Western Region’s new economic profile website uses Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates to put the region’s population at 23,493 as at 2012, with steady population growth since 2007.
The figures show employment in mining growing from 603 jobs in 2006 to 1,339 jobs in 2011.
Most sectors also grew slightly in that time, although around 90 retail jobs were lost, along with a little over 150 manufacturing jobs and over 200 jobs in agriculture, forestry and fishing.
