"What recession?"
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The was the response Dubbo mayor Ben Shields had after seeing the city's unemployment rate had dropped to a record low.
Dubbo Regional Council's Key Economic Indicator report shows the city's unemployment was at 1.4 per cent at the end of June, which equates to 22,957 jobs.
It's a drop from the two per cent unemployment recorded in March.
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Across Australia, the unemployment rate is at seven per cent.
It makes Dubbo's level "absolutely extraordinary", says Cr Shields.
The mayor has attributed it to a range of factors: government investment into the city, the council's 'can do' attitude, optimism among local businesses and a tourism boom.
"I'm not saying it's all been the great work of Dubbo Regional Council, what I am saying is that it's been the great work of the Dubbo community, full stop," he said.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in October the Australian unemployment rate rose to seven per cent. It's 1.7 per cent higher than the same time last year.
It total, about 961,000 are unemployed.
Youth unemployment is particularly high. It's at 15.6 per cent, the ABS states.
But Cr Shields said the Dubbo region's economy was going "gangbusters".
"Yes it is the case that all over regional NSW the economy is going great, but not as good as Dubbo. It's something that we all should be, as a community very proud of, but also [ensure] that it keeps up," he said.
"Now's the time to make hay while the sun shines and now's the time to keep going and continue to campaign to get extra businesses to Dubbo, to get extra workers here, to continue the process of growing our great region.
We know Dubbo has got so much potential, it can only get better from here. And the statistics are starting to back it up."
The number of jobs being advertised in Dubbo is on the rise. In November, 493 jobs were advertised on Seek.
Attracting skilled workers to fill those positions is one of the issues council it working to address.