Latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics have shown that the Australian construction industry has begun the year with minimal growth in terms of work completed and total value.
The value of total construction done over the quarter ending in March creeped up by 0.2% to AUS$51.2 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis. However, this figure does represent a 5% increase compared to a year ago.
The trend estimate for total construction work done rose by 1.4% in the quarter.
Breaking down the figures reveals that the bulk of heavy lifting in the quarter was provided by the federal government, with public sector spending expanding by 2.7%.
Conversely, private sector spending in construction contracted by 0.5%.
Across the states, Victoria enjoyed a 15th consecutive quarter of growth, with the value of construction rising by 6.5%, while Western Australia continued its recent slump with spending down 6.9% during the first three months of 2018.
Overall, the data indicates that the construction industry will have only a modest impact on Australia’s overall GDP growth during the quarter ending March.
