Australia: Construction work done drops substantially – ANZ

Australian construction work done fell 3.0% q/q in Q4, the largest quarterly decline in over a year and substantially larger than expected (-1.0% q/q), economists at ANZ Research reports. AUD/USD trades at 0.6578 after dropping with the data.

Key quotes

“Construction work done fell 3.0% q/q in Q4 2019 to be down more than 12% from the mid-2018 peak. Q3 work done was revised up to +0.4% q/q from -0.4% q/q.”

“The downturn in residential construction accelerated to -4.6% q/q, dragged down by both new residential building (-5.1% q/q) and alterations and additions (-1.3% q/q).”

“We think private sector construction will detract close to 0.4ppt from Q4 GDP growth (due next week), even before any effects from COVID-19 start to flow through.”