In October, Australia’s exports of goods and services rose 5% mom to AUD 35.72B. Imports of goods and services rose 1% mom to AUD 28.26B. Trade surplus came in at AUD 7.46B, above expectation of AUD 5.83B.

AiG Performance of Construction Index rose 2.6 pts to 55.3 in November, a second consecutive month of positive conditions, and the strongest monthly result since April 2018.

Group Head of Policy, Peter Burn, said: “The Australian construction sector grew more strongly in November with both activity and employment decisively stronger in the month. House building was the cornerstone of the lift in performance with support from commercial and engineering construction. Apartment building remains in the contractionary state it has been in for more than two years and, with question marks over population growth and falling new orders, this sector is the major dampener on the otherwise encouraging outlook for the broader construction sector.

Australia GDP grew 3.3% qoq in Q3, above expectation of 2.5% qoq. Household spending drove the rebound by rising 7.9%. Final consumption expenditure rose 5.9%. Total gross fixed capital formation dropped -0.1%. Exports dropped -3.2% while imports rose 6.5%.

Head of National Accounts at the ABS, Michael Smedes said: “Following the record 7.0 per cent decline in the June quarter, Australia experienced a partial recovery in the September quarter. As a result, economic activity fell 3.8 per cent through the year to September quarter.”

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Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said, “facing a once-in-a-century pandemic that has caused the greatest economic shock since the Great Depression, Australia has performed better on the health and economic fronts than nearly any other country in the world.”

“Technically, Australia’s recession may be over, but Australia’s economic recovery is not,” he said. “There is a lot of ground to make up and many Australian households and many Australian businesses are doing it tough – very tough.”