BY JESSICA ROUSE
The latest economic snapshot for the region has been released by the Hunter Research Foundation Centre.
It’s a mixed bag, with the June quarter bringing subdued income growth and consumption, improved business confidence despite a decline in household confidence and a fall in the unemployment rate.
Lead Economist DR Anthea Bill says the state of the region’s unemployment and employment rates are quite positive.
“The Hunter economy added 4,500 jobs and that was a growth of 1.4 per cent so that’s in line with the state and a lot of those new jobs that were added to the economy were full-time jobs and growth was strongest in males and over the quarter male part-time employment actually contracted.”
It’s good news for first home buyers, but not so good for home owners – there’s been a 2 per cent decline in Lake Macquarie and a 5 per cent drop largely in Dungog, Port Stephens and Singleton.