Warrnambool councillors were buzzing with excitement at the council’s meeting this week when its city growth director Andrew Paton released a power pack of positive economic data.

That data showed that Warrnambool’s population rose to 34,555 as at June last year, an increase of 310, or 0.9 per cent on the previous year.

Jobs data for the December quarter last year also shows Warrnambool’s unemployment rate is down to 4.1 per cent, the lowest unemployment rate of any regional city in Victoria.

That low rate built on jobs data released in December that showed the number of place of work jobs in Warrnambool increased by 25 per cent between the 2011 census and the 2016 census, from 13,300 jobs to 16,600 jobs.

The data revealed all employment sectors in Warrnambool, apart from two, showed growth with the largest increases in health and social services, retail trade, education and training, accommodation and food services, and construction sectors.

Another component of the power pack of economic data was a surge in vacant land sales in Warrnambool in 2017.

Sales surpassed 200 lots for the first time in seven years, up 15 per cent on 2016, a clear signal of strong demand for residential land. The value of building approvals for the 2017-2018 year to March was a healthy $73 million, building on the $111 million reached in 2016-2017, up 11 per cent on the previous year. 

Mr Paton said while there was good reason for Warrnambool to be optimistic about its continued economic growth, there were challenges such as skills gaps, a higher rate of unemployment among youth and attracting more commercial investment.

He said skill gaps meant some local industries were not undertaking projects and while investment in housing in Warrnambool was good, commercial investment was cyclical.

Mr Paton’s positive set of numbers came on top of Warrnambool’s excellent rating in a liveability index done last December of Victoria’s 10 top regional cities.

The index found Warrnambool scored equal to, or higher than, Melbourne on six of seven liveability themes, the most of the 10 Regional Cities Victoria (RCV) councils.

Warrnambool scored above average in its housing affordability, with only 18.5 per cent of low-income residents spending 30 per cent or more of their income on housing.

The index also found the Warrnambool area had good primary and tertiary health services per capita.

The city also had a level of criminal offences below that of Greater Melbourne and other regional cites and excelled in nature-based attractions, the index said.