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