Australia Q2 Construction Work Posts Largest Rise on Record

--Engineering Construction Up Sharply

     SYDNEY (MNI) - Construction Work Done data for the second quarter published

by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday:

                               Private        Public                 Total

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

                          % Change Q/Q  % Change Q/Q          % Change Q/Q

Construction Work Done           +10.6          +4.7                  +9.3

MNI median                         N/A           N/A                  +1.0

                                                      (Range -1.0 to +3.0)

Building Work                     -0.3          +4.7                  +0.1

-Residential Building             -0.4           N/A                  -0.4

-Nonresidential Building          -0.2           N/A                  +1.1

Engineering                      +32.2          +4.6                 +21.5

     FACTORS: Construction work rose sharply in the second quarter, posting the

largest increase in the history of the survey as engineering work recorded a

sharp jump. 

     Engineering work surge due mainly to private work, with increases seen in

six of the eight states, led by Western Australia with a 89.5% q/q rise in

original terms. Queensland engineering followed with a 23.0% q/q rise, New South

Wales rose 15.4% and Victoria rose 17.7%. 

     Residential building construction disappointed with a decline for the

second straight quarter while non-residential rose 1.1% mainly due to public

sector work. 

     Within residential construction, alterations and additions rose 2.5% but

this was offset by a 0.7% fall in new residential building construction. 

     TAKEAWAY: The outcome was much higher than expected and well outside the

range predicted by economists in the MNI survey. The data bodes well for Q2 GDP

which is due for release next week.

--MNI Sydney Bureau; tel: +61 2-9716-5467; email: sophia.rodrigues@marketnews.com

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