Greg Caust

Business confidence in the WA economy has fallen to a seven-year low in the wake of the global credit crisis, according the latest Commonwealth Bank-Chamber of Commerce and Industry business expectations survey.

Business confidence in Western Australia has hit record lows as the global economic uncertainty starts to impact owners, two separate surveys have found.

Business confidence in Western Australia has dropped to a record low with almost 75 per cent of firms believing economic conditions will deteriorate further in the next year, a new survey by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA has found.

An increasing number of businesses in Western Australia are becoming more confident about the local economy's prospects with some saying the current economic climate has been good for business.

Confidence among Western Australian businesses has bounced back to boom levels, a new survey shows.

There is good news ahead with 2010 shaping to be a much better year for Western Australian businesses, with a majority of employers expecting the local economy to pick up pace in the next 12 months, according WA's peak industry body.

A new survey has found the confidence of Western Australian employers has taken a hit for the first time since the beginning of last year.

Forty per cent of WA businesses are looking to employ inexperienced workers over the next 12 months as they move to implement measures to grow and retain their workforce.

THE latest Commonwealth Bank – CCI Survey of Business Expectations has found that businesses are employing a variety of measures to grow and retain their workforce as labour shortages start to bite.

New research shows that more than half of WA employers believe that labour shortages and associated wage pressures are the biggest challenges to their businesses this year.

General manager WA, Commonwealth Bank

Business confidence in Western Australia is plummetting and has fallen to the lowest level since the global financial crisis, a series of new surveys shows.

Business confidence in Western Australia remains firmly negative in the face of improving conditions and is only set to get worse, according to a survey released today.

The spate of major project deferrals announced last year have hit confidence levels among WA business hard, with expectations for the state economy dropping to its lowest level since the GFC.

Carnegie Wave Energy chief executive officer Michael Ottaviano and Northern Star Resources boss Bill Beament were among the winners of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year western region awards.

Medium-density housing approvals are still rising in Western Australia, albeit slowly, in contrast to approvals for detached homes, which have gone backwards along with the economy, according to new research.

Our weekly appointments wrap includes Michael Parker, Garret Dixon, Brett Braithwaite, Sean Macfarlane, Stephen Rivers, Graeme Stephen, David Power, Mylon Manusiu, Kevin Deery, Justine Campbell, Susan Hunt and Greg Caust.