The preliminary ABS data on construction work done, released today to December shows that the trend estimate for total construction work done fell 1.6% in the December quarter 2015 whilst the the seasonally adjusted estimate for total construction work done fell 3.6% to $48,413.4m in the December quarter.
However, the trend estimate for total building work done rose 1.0% in the December quarter, with non-residential building work done rising 0.3% and residential building work up 1.4%. The seasonally adjusted estimate of total building work done rose 2.7% to $24,990.2m in the December quarter.
In contrast, the trend estimate for engineering work done fell 3.9% in the December quarter and the seasonally adjusted estimate for engineering work done fell 9.5% to $23,423.3m in the December quarter. So growth continues to rely on the housing sector.
The state by state data on residential construction (original data, so no smoothing) shows some significant movements.
In NSW, total new residential construction rose 0.21%, whilst VIC rose 0.28%. Both states are suggesting slowing momentum. This is in contrast to QLD which has shown growth of more than 10% the past two quarters. SA dropped 6.5% (reversed the 4.9% movement in the prior quarter) whilst WA fell 5%, the first fall since 2013.
Data from TAS, NT and ACT are more volatile so probably less significant, with NT falling 19.7% (after a 10% rise last time), ACT 5.6% (the fifth consecutive quarterly fall) and TAS rising 3.5%.
