THERE is a mixed picture at a local level at a time when NSW has claimed the title of the strongest economy in the nation.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
That is the view of Mid North Coast NSW Business Chamber regional manager Kellon Beard.
"There are pockets that are doing really well but there are other businesses who are struggling a bit," he said about the region.
Construction seemed to be experiencing a bit of a peak at the moment, Mr Beard said, with a demand for housing, redevelopment and major construction such as the Charles Sturt University campus off Major Innes Road.
Stage one construction of the university's permanent campus started in August, with a staged building program planned up until 2030.
"Retail is still a bit flat and some of the other industries aren't doing as well as what they probably should be at this time of the year," Mr Beard said.
The NSW Business Chamber will shortly release the results of its member-based business confidence survey.
On a national level, NSW toppled Western Australia to become the new leader in Australia's economic performance rankings in the CommSec state and territory economic performance report card. The report found NSW was at the top of rankings on population growth and housing construction and second on retail trade, business investment and unemployment indicators.
Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams said the economic management of the state government over the past three years had meant the hard work and discipline had paid dividends with confidence returning to NSW.
Mrs Williams said the CommSec report was an important vote of confidence in NSW and was a vote of confidence
in the government's approach to economic management which would see benefits for the people of the Port Macquarie electorate.
She stressed the government's investment in the electorate too.
The report examines eight key measures including economic growth, retail spending, unemployment, construction, population growth and housing finance.
NSW was now the best-performing economy with strong population growth lifting home building, the report said.
Mr Beard said it was interesting to see the state was ahead of everyone else in economic terms.
"The decline in mining has had an impact on that," he said.
Mr Beard said there was much activity in NSW and it was good to see the government was behind a lot of that.
He said the state government's policies and initiatives over a long time had helped but was also a balancing act.
