WA on its own compared to other states

Western Australia remains by far the nation’s strongest state on most economic valuations, and even its weakest parts outstrip many other jurisdictions, Commonwealth Securities (CommSec) says.

In its quarterly assessment of the states and territories, CommSec says WA comes out on top in six of the eight criteria used, while its worst results are third for housing finance and fifth for dwelling starts.

“Western Australia is clearly Australia’s best-performing economy,” CommSec’s chief economist and author of the “State of States” Craig James said.

“So much so, that it is probably more appropriate to look at two concepts to measure the national economy – Australia, and Australia less Western Australia.”

Every three months Mr James analyses the states using eight key indicators – economic growth, retail spending, equipment investment, unemployment, completed construction work, population growth, housing finance and dwelling commencements.

As of July, the ACT came second, buoyed by strong housing finance and dwelling starts, flowing from above-average population growth and a strong job market.

The Northern Territory has jumped from seventh position to third, courtesy of solid economic growth, a strong job market and firm retail spending, all of which are underpinned by new resources projects.

“The significant scale of the huge $34 billion Inpex liquefied natural gas project clearly has changed fortunes for this relatively small economy,” Mr James said.

Queensland and Victoria are next on the economic rankings, with Queensland benefiting from rebuilding work, which is flowing through to retail spending and investment.

Victoria continues to out-perform on housing market indicators, although the performance is slipping on retail spending, investment and unemployment.

NSW and South Australia are next, with the nation’s most populous states out-performing on jobs but under-performing on dwelling starts.

South Australia is middle ranked on all economic indicators but is tending to under-perform on housing market indicators.

But then, Mr James says, there is a sizable gap down to Tasmania, which lags behind all other economies on five of the eight indicators, with weak population growth and rising unemployment restraining retail spending and overall economic growth.

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