Australia’s economy could only manage slight growth in the first quarter of the year as households squirrelled away more of their income in savings and extreme weather hit exports and tourism.
New data from the ABS released this morning showed GDP rose 0.2 per cent in the March quarter, down from 0.6 per cent in December, and was up 1.3 per cent over the last 12 months.
That’s in line with forecasts, which had been recently pared back – analysts had been expecting a rise of between 0.1 and 0.3 per cent for the quarter, and around 1.2-1.4 per cent for the year.
However, after its first rise in seven quarters in December, per capita GDP went backwards once again, falling 0.2 per cent for the quarter and 0.4 per cent for the year.
“Economic growth was soft in the March quarter,” ABS head of national accounts Katherine Keenan said.
“Public spending recorded the largest detraction from growth since the September quarter 2017.
“Extreme weather events reduced domestic final demand and exports. Weather impacts were particularly evident in mining, tourism and shipping.”
