WA lock down restrictions
It certainly seems different waking up in Perth this morning for the start of a 5 day lock down after living such a fortunate lifestyle for the past 10 months. I guess we all knew in the back of our minds that there was always a strong possibility of Co-vid 19 reemerging in our community.
We understand it can be a stressful time for many and reaffirm our commitment to being available for you to discuss any concerns you might have about your financial affairs. We have taken appropriate measures to ensure we can continue to operate and able to utilise technology like Zoom, Microsoft teams or just a good old fashioned phone call.
CommSec State of States report – January 2021
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
- 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 12th 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.
Notably there has been compression in the rankings with little to separate five of the other seven economies after Tasmania and the ACT.
If rolling annual new vehicle sales are added to the list of indicators, South Australia would move to outright third on the performance rankings with Queensland outright fourth.
The ACT is the only state or territory where annual new vehicle sales are above ‘normal’, up 11.5% on the decade average. And the ACT is the only economy where annual new vehicle sales are up on a year ago (up 22.6%).
In the overall rankings, the big improvers over the past quarter were Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. The biggest losers were Victoria and the ACT. But the key result was the compression in the rankings.
Tasmania remains in top spot on the economic performance rankings for the 4th quarter in a row. Tasmania is ranked first on relative population growth, equipment investment, dwelling starts and retail trade. The lowest ranking on other indicators is fourth.
The ACT is in second spot in the rankings. The second ranking for the ACT maintains its highest ranking for over three years (April 2017).
Victoria is now equal third on the overall economic performance rankings. Victoria still ranks first on two of the eight indicators.
South Australia is now in joint third position (up from equal 4th last quarter) on the performance rankings – its highest ranking in just over a decade.
Queensland is now in fifth position on the performance rankings. Queensland is ranked in first spot for housing finance however Queensland is seventh-ranked for both relative unemployment and relative economic growth.
NSW and Western Australia are now in joint 6th position in the key indicators. The equal sixth ranking for NSW is its lowest position for eight years. WA ranks second on equipment investment and third on relative economic growth. WA is ranked seventh on dwelling starts and construction work done.
Northern Territory remains in last place. The Northern Territory is fifth-ranked on relative economic growth but lags all other states and territories on six of the eight indicators.
Click here for a full copy of the CommSec State of State January 2021 Report.
Annual Growth Rates
The State of the States report assesses economic performance by looking at the most recent result – such as retail trade or construction – and compares that with the ‘normal’ experience. And by ‘normal experience’, we define this as the decade average.
A resident of the state or territory can therefore assess whether they are experiencing relatively better economic times. Comparing states or territories on the same criteria determines which state or territory is performing the best on a certain indicator.
In addition to relative economic performance, some are also interested in economic momentum. That is, annual changes in key indicators. A state/territory may have been underperforming, but if annual growth is rising, then this suggests that performance has scope to improve.
On the eight indicators assessed, Western Australia and the ACT top the annual changes on two measures. All of the other economies except NSW and South Australia are on top for annual growth on one of four economic indicators.
When looking across growth rates for the states and territories, Western Australia exceeds the national-average on seven of the eight indicators.
Next best is Queensland (five) from the ACT, South Australia and the Northern Territory (four). Tasmania and NSW outperformed the national average on three indicators followed by Victoria (two).
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
The Coastline Private Wealth Team.
