While many West Australians are still struggling to adjust to the job insecurity on the downside of the mining construction boom, a new report says they should get used to living in the "new normal".

The report, by Curtin University's Bankwest Economics Centre (BCEC), paints a picture of a state recovering from an extraordinary "economic bonanza" and finds plenty of positives, like comparatively high household incomes and a strong mining industry.

But BCEC director Alan Duncan said the unemployment rate in WA had surpassed the national figure for the first time in a decade, and jobs were increasingly precarious.

"Overall, the evidence in this report suggests that, economically speaking, Western Australia is set for a 'new normal'," the report said.

And while Perth households had the highest average gross income in the nation in 2013-14, these days they are spending less on restaurants — from $542 per quarter in 2012 to $484 this year — and fewer people have investment properties.

The end of the boom has made life a little cheaper for Pilbara residents. In 2011, their cost of living was 37 per cent higher than in Perth, falling to 18 per cent higher last year.

The report said while inequality between rich and poor households had increased during the boom, it had dropped overall since 2009-10.

WA's richest 20 per cent of households hold almost 65 per cent of the state's total net household wealth, but less than 1 per cent of household wealth is held by the state's poorest 20 per cent of residents.

Women fare worse

One in four single women do not have superannuation assets, compared to one in 10 men.

The report said the unemployment rate was higher for women than men, and both rates are now higher than the national rate.

"Income equality in WA has been high relative to eastern coast states, but is reverting to the sorts of income separation seen elsewhere in Australia," the report said.

The mining industry has shed the equivalent of 22,000 full-time jobs in just two years.

But it still employs around 100,000 people, with about 50,000 working in iron ore and 20,000 in gold.

The report shows that underemployment is now a bigger problem, with 10 per cent of employed people wanting to work more hours, as is job insecurity.

"There are strong signs emanating from the labour market that career pathways will be less straightforward; it may be that more and more West Australians will need to hold multiple jobs at any point in time to make up preferred work hours, and multiple job turnovers and career shifts before retirement would not be unusual," Professor Duncan said.

Mining still dominates

Last year, more than 3,000 residents left WA for other states, following the 2,960 Australian citizens who left the state to move overseas in 2013 and 2014.

Iron ore is losing market share to gold, alumina and liquefied gas. ( ABC News )

It has been a sudden demographic change, considering that in 2012 WA hit its peak net migration figures, with 8,900 people moving here.

But the report points out that while WA's economic growth has slowed, it is still faster than the national average.

The mining industry still dominates the WA economy, attracting two-thirds of national mining investment.

Iron ore production continues to soar, growing from almost 450 million tonnes in 2011 to almost 750 million tonnes last year, but it is losing its share to the growing alumina, gold and liquefied natural gas (LNG) sectors.

The state's next biggest industry is construction, followed by manufacturing and construction, but the fastest job growth areas are health care, social services, recreation and the arts.

