Are you outperforming your state?

CommSec’s quarterly economic report is out, looking at the differences between Australia’s states

How’s business going for you? CommSec’s quarterly report was released earlier today, comparing key economic indicators within states with their decade average – i.e. what conditions are ‘normally’ like.

As usual they’ve grouped certain states depending on performance and outlook. NSW is leading the pack, ahead of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The middle group is Victoria and Queensland, and the third tier is South Australia, the ACT, and Tasmania.
Read on to see how your state measured up:
 

Australian Capital Territory

• What Commsec say: “…rising unemployment has affected growth of consumer spending and business investment”
• What the numbers say: unemployment is 34% above the normal decade average level – but still the second lowest in the nation (after NT)

 

New South Wales

• What CommSec say: “NSW is top of rankings on population growth and dwelling starts and second on retail trade, business investment and unemployment indicators.”
• What the numbers say: NSW new house construction is 36% above the decade average, and 7.3% higher than a year ago

 

Northern Territory

• What CommSec say: “The Northern Territory leads the way on economic growth, business investment, unemployment and construction work.”
• What the numbers say: NT economic activity is 34% above its decade-average – but new home loans are 13.4% lower than across the decade. However the growth in new lending is the highest in Australia.

 

Queensland

• What CommSec say: “The key strengths of the Queensland economy are non-residential building and business investment (both third ranked).”
• What the numbers say: New construction of all buildings was 34.9% above its decade average

 

South Australia

• What CommSec say: “South Australia is generally ranked sixth to eighth on the key indicators…”
• What the numbers say: 3.1% wage growth in the June quarter was the fastest in the nation, matched by a 3.1% increase in consumer prices

 

Tasmania

• What CommSec say: “Tasmania… has the second strongest annualgrowth rate of retail spending of the states and territories.”
• What the numbers say: Tasmania has the highest unemployment (7.2%), 20% above the decade average, and housing building also 20% below the decade average

 

Victoria

• What CommSec say: “Victoria continues to record solid population growth compared with its decade average, thus sustaining home purchase and construction.”
• What the numbers say: Victoria has the second-strongest population growth in the nation, having 1.9% more people than a year ago, a growth rate 13.8% above the decade average

 

Western Australia

• What CommSec say: “Western Australia has lost ground on retail trade, equipment investment and population growth – a consequence of the fading of the mining boom.”
• What the numbers say: new home loan commitments are 8.5% above the decade average “highlighting the fact that housing is taking over from mining as a growth driver

 
Read CommSec’s full ‘State of the states’ report here