The construction industry’s slump has escalated, ABC News reported.
Overall construction work dropped 3.8% over the three months to June. Over the year, it fell 11%, with total work dropping to its lowest level in more than two years.
Residential construction experienced the biggest fall, declining 5.1% for the quarter and almost 10% for the year.
It is the fourth consecutive quarter housing construction has fallen.
Engineering construction failed to offset the housing slump, falling 1% for the June quarter and 16% over the year.
Construction in ACT, New South Wales, and Victoria declined for the third quarter in a row, with construction in South Australia falling for the fourth consecutive quarter.
In Queensland, construction dropped for the fifth consecutive quarter. Western Australia recorded a decline in construction for the sixth successive quarter, while the Northern Territory recorded a fall for the seventh quarter in a row.
Meanwhile, Tasmania reported just two successive quarters of falling construction activity.
The turndown of the home building cycle, a pull-back in public works, and a further winding down of private infrastructure activity led by the mining sector have affected the slump, according to Westpac senior economist Andrew Hanlan.
“With the construction sector representing around 13% of the economy this result will dent second-quarter GDP, potentially in the order of 0.4 percentage points,” he said.
