Australia’s Q1 construction work drops 1.9%, a negative surprise (Aussie keeps lows)

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

The pace of construction work done in Australia unexpectedly deteriorated during the March quarter of 2019.

The value of construction work done, a key component within the GDP reading, arrived at -1.9% q/q to a seasonally-adjusted A$ 50.79 millon in the three months to March 31, according to the latest data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Markets had predicted a 0.0% print while the previous figure stood at -3.1%.

MARCH KEY POINTS

VALUE OF WORK DONE, CHAIN VOLUME MEASURES

TOTAL CONSTRUCTION

The trend estimate for total construction work done fell 2.4% in the March quarter 2019.

The seasonally adjusted estimate for total construction work done fell 1.9% to $50,787.9m in the March quarter.

BUILDING WORK DONE

The trend estimate for total building work done fell 0.9% in the March quarter 2019.

The trend estimate for non-residential building work done rose 1.6% and residential building work fell 2.4%.

The seasonally adjusted estimate of total building work done fell 0.4% to $29,835.1m in the March quarter.

ENGINEERING WORK DONE

The trend estimate for engineering work done fell 4.0% in the March quarter.

The seasonally adjusted estimate for engineering work done fell 3.9% to $20,952.8m in the March quarter.

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

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