US Election this week
All eyes will be on the US election result this week. There is sufficient coverage so we won’t focus on it besides saying regardless of which party wins we will be watching what impact it has on investment markets and be ready to make portfolio adjustments as required.
CommSec State of States report – October 2020
Each quarter CommSec attempts to find out how the Australian states and territories are performing by analysing eight key indicators: economic growth; retail spending; equipment investment; unemployment; construction work done; population growth; housing finance and dwelling commencements.
Just as the Reserve Bank uses long-term averages to determine the level of “normal” interest rates; CommSec have done the same with the economic indicators. For each state and territory, latest readings for the key indicators were compared with decade averages – that is, against the “normal” performance.
Now in its 11th year, the ‘State of the States’ report also includes a section comparing annual growth rates for the eight key indicators across the states and territories as well as Australia as a whole. This enables another point of comparison – in terms of economic momentum.
For the second quarter in a row, Tasmania holds the mantle of the best performing economy in its own right. But there have been notable changes in the other rankings. Victoria has dropped from second to third spot, behind the ACT. NSW shares equal fourth spot with South Australia. Then in joint sixth position are Queensland and Western Australia from the Northern Territory.
Tasmania has been ranked first on relative population growth, equipment investment, housing finance, dwelling starts and retail trade. Tasmania ranks third and fourth on the other three indicators.
The ACT has lifted from third to second position on the overall performance rankings.
Victoria is now in third position. Of the eight indicators, Victoria still ranks first on relative economic growth and construction work done. Victoria’s lowest ranking is fifth on four indicators.
NSW ranks fourth on the economic performance rankings. NSW is second ranked on construction work but is ranked eight on relative unemployment.
South Australia is now in equal fourth position on the economic performance rankings. South Australia is second ranked on relative population growth and third on relative unemployment. There is now little separating NSW, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia.
Queensland is now in joint sixth position with Western Australia. Western Australia has lifted from seventh to sixth and continues to edge away from Northern Territory in last place.
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Click here for a full copy of the CommSec State of State October 2020 Report.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
The Coastline Private Wealth Team.
