NSW again strongest Australian economy
New South Wales was Australia’s top performing economy in 2017, followed by Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory, as it retained its tops ranking across most economic indicators in CommSec’s latest State of the States report.
CommSec looked at the performance of each state and territory regarding retail trade, dwelling starts, equipment investment, construction work, unemployment, population growth, business investment and housing finance across each quarter.
New South Wales secured the top ranking in five of these categories, which was the third year in a row it had been the top performing economy. Victoria was the second best, leading annual growth in multiple indicators.
“As we saw last quarter, Australia’s economies are in good shape but it is the two most populous states that lead the way on the back of solid activity in home purchase and construction,” Craig James, CommSec chief economist said.
Queensland showed strong employment growth, while Tasmania was top-ranked on relative population growth. South Australia shows growth in construction work and the Australian Capital Territory was the leader in housing finance. The Norther Territory showed strong growth in exports, but also had worse unemployment than in previous years.
In positive news for Western Australia, employment growth was close to the highest it had been in five years and population growth was strong, despite the end of the mining construction boom.
Recommended for you
Insignia Financial has made four appointments, including three who have joined from TAL, to lead strategy and innovation in its retirement solutions for the MLC brand.
The third quarter of 2024 saw the first positive increase in adviser numbers for 12 months, according to the latest quarterly Musical Chairs report, with new entrants overwhelmingly choosing to join privately owned firms.
As more advisers review their fee structures, Business Health has shared six steps to calculating the price to deliver financial advice services in a profitable yet suitable way.
ASIC’s Sarah Court has confirmed the regulator is carrying out systematic work on providers of unlicensed advice but admits it is a case of “whack-a-mole” when it comes to disciplining them.