The social and economic value of the South Coast region

The South Coast region occupies an area of 169,418km2 or 6.7 per cent of the Western Australian land mass and is comprised of the City of Albany, and the Shire of Jerramungup in the Great Southern Development Commission, and the Shire of Ravensthorpe, Shire of Esperance, and Shire of Dundas in the Goldfields Esperance Development Commission. [...] Low unemployment rates are common throughout the region ranging from 1.2 per cent in the Shire of Ravensthorpe to 3.1 per cent in the City of Albany Overall, the unemployment rate in the region is influenced by the City of Albany and the Shire of Esperance which together account for 93 per cent of the workforce and 95 per cent of unemployed people in the region. [...] The majority of the people employed in the industry live in the City of Albany and the Shire of Esperance. [...] The town of Esperance is connected to the The social and economic value of the South Coast region Final report 12 Coolgardie Esperance Highway with links to the the Great Eastern Highway connecting the region to Perth, and the Eyre Highway which provides links to the east coast of Australia. [...] Two thirds of the agricultural land in the South Coast region is for the grazing of livestock in the pastoral areas in the Shire of Dundas and the Shire of Esperance.