The West hits “a speed bump”

The mineral boom is alive and well in Western Australia.

But the impact of rising interest rates is being felt in the West, just as it is in other parts of the nation.

As always, small business has been among the first to be affected.

The Sensis Business Index for February shows the results.

It reveals that small business owners in the Western State have generally experienced “weaker conditions” over the past three months.

Small business profits, in that time, were well below those seen in the same period 12 months earlier.

The report’s author, Christena Singh, said small business owners had been caught between deteriorating sales and strong inflationary pressures.

Sales growth in the State was still above the national average.

But it was also slower than it has been at any time since August 2006.

Ms Singh said small business confidence in the State had fallen by 18 points over the past year.

However she said small business owners seemed to be taking all this in their stride.

“It appears to be just a bump in the road, in what have been – by any measure – extremely strong business conditions,” Ms Singh said.