Wednesday, June 6, 2012

GDP surprise. Aust economy expands by 1.3 percent in last quarter, defying doomsayers. Dollar surges.





In the reporting of economic data, both official and private, journalists have become accustomed to expect the unexpected.
 
Today, expecting the unexpected  turned out to be a good policy when the Australian Bureau of Statistics surprised analysts by reporting economic growth in the past quarter of 1.3 percent and 4.3 percent year on year.

Even so, the reliability of the ABS data is being questioned by some economists given the patchwork nature of the economy.



The main contributors to the surprise growth was household expenditure (0.9 percent) and private engineering construction (0.8 percent).

The main industry contributor was mining (up 2.3 percent), financial and insurance services (up 1.7 percent) and technical services (up 2.8 percent). The ABS says each of those areas added 0.2 percentage points to GDP.

The Treasurer Wayne Swan grabbed the opportunity of positive news, describing Australia as "an island of growth amid global uncertainty."

The Australian dollar surged when the news hit the market at 11.30am, rising one US cent.



3 comments:

  1. Doin' it now while they can.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Why are we still hearing the nay-sayers ; Joe and Tony Murdoch? Why are they even being taken seriously at all!!?

    ReplyDelete
  3. My view is that GDP is not a measure of well being.

    ReplyDelete

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