CommSec State of the States – October 2017

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Overall Results How are Australia’s states and territories performing? Each quarter CommSec attempts to find out by analysing eight key indicators: economic growth; retail spending; business investment; unemployment; construction work

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Aussies switch housing preferences

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Building approvals; Job ads; Consumer confidence; Home sales Dwelling approvals: Approvals by local councils to build new homes rose by 0.4 per cent in August after falling 1.2 per cent

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Federal budget: Smallest deficit in four years

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Federal Budget Final Budget outcome: The budget deficit for 2016/17 was $33.15 billion or 1.9 per cent of GDP. The budget deficit was a $4.4 billion improvement on the $37.6 billion

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Jobs bonanza: Quarter of a million jobs added

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Labour force; China data; Airfares Employment rose for the 11th straight month, up by 54,200 in August after rising by 29,200 in July (previously reported as a rise of 27,900

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Widening gap between income & spending

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Household income, wealth & expenditure Rich Australia: The Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released a barrage covering the finances and spending patterns of Aussie families. Wealth continues to soar –

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Real estate sentiment at 44-year low

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Consumer Confidence Consumer confidence: The Westpac/Melbourne Institute survey of consumer sentiment rose by 2.5 per cent to a 4-month high of 97.9 in September. The confidence index is down 4.4

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Australia no longer the cheapest: CommSec iPad/iPhone indexes

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Economic trends Is the Aussie dollar too strong? According to CommSec iPhone index Australia is now the 25th cheapest country in the world (of 57 nations) to buy an Apple iPhone

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Dividend bonanza: $26 billion to be paid out

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Economic and Financial market perspectives Cash payouts: Since the start of the financial year companies have paid out around $4 billion in dividends to shareholders. But dividend payouts really start to

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Record expansion moves into 27th year

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National accounts Record expansion: The economy grew by 0.8 per cent in the June quarter after rising by 0.3 per cent in the March quarter. Annual economic growth held at

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Record vehicle sales; Record rural exports

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Government Finance; Balance of Payments; Consumer Sentiment; Car sales Current Account: The broadest measure of the trade accounts – the current account – deteriorated in the June quarter (bigger deficit), with

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