The value of construction work done in Australia slipped a seasonally adjusted 2.4 percent on quarter in the first quarter or 2015, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday – coming in at A$48.397 billion.
That missed expectations for a decline of 1.4 percent following the 0.2 percent contraction in the previous three months.
On a yearly basis, total completed construction work tumbled 8.8 percent.
Building construction work done was up 3.3 percent on quarter and 7.4 percent on year to A$23.597 billion.
Residential construction work done was up 4.8 percent on quarter and 11.4 percent on year to A$14.733 billion.
Non-residential construction work completed added 1.0 percent on quarter and 1.2 percent on year to A$8.864 billion.
Engineering construction work completed tumbled 7.3 percent on quarter and 20.3 percent on year to A$24.800.
Also on Wednesday, the latest survey from Westpac Bank and the Melbourne Institute showed that a leading index for the Australian economy moved higher in April, rising 0.11 percent on month to a score of 98.17.
That followed the 0.3 percent decline to 98.0 in March.
The six-month annualized deviation from trend growth climbed from -0.02 percent in March to +0.43 percent in April.
“The Australian economy has regained some momentum although the growth pulse is still not particularly strong,” Westpac said in a statement accompanying the data.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com