Half of the new jobs created in coming years may be in sectors related to the mining industry, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia.
AAP reports RBA deputy governor Philip Lowe said the booming mining industry and the sectors servicing it were expected to grow strongly.
"It would not be surprising if, over the next few years, growth in mining-related employment, broadly defined, was as high as half of the total growth in the Australian workforce," he said.
Lowe said Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed resources accounted for around 16 per cent of GDP and mining related employment accounted for about 8 per cent of the total workforce.
He also said the industry was growing at about 12 per cent a year.
But Lowe said while the mining industry was strong it did not appear to be benefitting other sectors as much as it had in the past.
Earlier this year left-leaning think tank The Australia Institute said the mining industry was killing thousands of jobs in other industries.
"Research has shown that Australians overestimate the positive economic effects of the mining boom and little consideration is given to the economic costs," it said.
"It is possible that proposed mining projects could destroy almost 20,000 jobs across Queensland and Australia."
"The majority of these job losses, almost 15,000, will be in manufacturing."