Australia’s economy strengthens as the rest of the world struggles

As Alan Austin reports, last week’s national accounts confirmed that Australia is back on a solid economic path.

NOW we have September quarter growth Gross domestic product (GDP) figures developed for 35 people OECD members. Annual GDP growth has increased steadily in each of the last four quarters in only three countries: Austria, the Czech Republic and Australia.

Only three have recorded uninterrupted quarterly growth in the last four years: Belgium, Spain and Australia. Australia is still the only economy in the world with a triple-A credit rating, an unemployment rate below 4.5% and an average wealth per capita above $250,000.

Australian economy grew up 0.39% for the September quarter and 2.05% for the full year. This annual rate now ranks 13th in the OECD, up from 30th under the ill-fated Coalition four years ago. Australia is not yet at the top as it was in the past. Kevin Rudd And Julia Gillardbut it’s getting there.

The global situation continues to deteriorate

Examining the fortunes of 34 other comparable Western democracies shows that times are tougher for economic growth than Australian commentators acknowledge.

Some obvious reasons for this include the war in Ukraine, the influence of the US President. EmbersTrump’s devastating tariffs on global trade, the uncertainty created by Trump’s constant threats followed by fear and flight, and the wholesale destruction of the US economy as criminals in the White House plunder the wealth of the US economy for the benefit of Trump’s family and friends.

It’s impossible to gauge how bad the economy has become in the US this year, as Trump has fired inspectors general and professional statisticians and refused to allow critical indicators to be published.

The US economy reported negative 0.6% quarterly growth for the March quarter of this year, followed by a massive recovery of positive 3.8% in the June quarter. No serious observer believes this is remotely true, given all other indications that economic fortunes are increasingly dire. Instead of releasing another fake figure for September, Trump stopped reporting that figure altogether; Some see this as an admission that the economy is in a deep recession.

The flow-on effects of this can be seen worldwide. Traditionally strong economies Japan, Ireland, Chile and Switzerland recorded negative GDP growth in September, ending a period of strong growth for all of them.

Ireland has been the world’s leading economic success since the 2000s. Global Financial CrisisIt was the only OECD member to weather the COVID crisis without negative growth of a quarter of annual GDP. Australia captured three; Most OECD members received four or five. It’s a bit shocking to see Ireland going backwards.

Germany recorded zero growth after the negative March quarter. Hungary and Lithuania both recorded zero growth. Finland and Iceland recorded their second consecutive contraction, confirming that they had entered a full recession along with the USA.

Productivity? No problem

Australia’s productivity continues to improve steadily, as evidenced by ever-increasing wages and profits. Neither would expand if productivity were stagnant or falling. The doomsayers in mainstream newsrooms can be ignored.

The measure of real productivity in the national accounts continues to stagnate, but this line – as I have notedA. here, here and here – tried to show that productivity is no longer measured accurately. The closest indicator is general consumption expenditure, including households and companies, shown in column CJ of table 2 of last week’s national accounts. This has increased steadily since September 2021, reaching an all-time high in each quarter. See the table below.

How do Albo and Dr Jim do this?

Australia’s economic trajectory since the change of government in 2022 confirms analysis by numerous officials dating back to the early days of recorded history; This analysis is that taking care of the disadvantaged first is key to building a strong economy for everyone, not just the bottom end.

IA. There are now six real-time indicators of hardship mitigation across the country:

The increase in the standard age pension to $28,072 in September took this to over 35%. average earnings First time in Australia. During the coalition period, this rate was below 33%.
increase in adults unemployment rate Reaching $20,634 in September keeps this above 25% of average earnings, as it has been for the past eight quarters. This fluctuated between 21% and 23% for most of the Coalition period.
More Australians were spotted in the September quarter of this year trip More abroad in September than in any quarter on record. Anecdotal evidence suggests that these include more welfare recipients than ever before. The figure of 3,227,300 was 4.6% higher than the next highest September quarter.
National Debt Helpline (NDH) Only launched The number of emergency calls in November was 12,086. This is the lowest November total since 2022 and the second-lowest this calendar year. The lowest number was in April with 11,554. These are raw numbers from NDH, so the trend by population is even more pronounced.
The economy continues create jobs 42,200 new jobs were added in October and a whopping 160,300 jobs have been created since the beginning of the year. Australia’s unemployment rate has remained below 4.6% for an impressive 47 months.
And finally Australia’s national income augmented In the September quarter, as in all but two quarters since the 2022 Election.

More importantly, Albanian The government has ensured that an increasing share of this will go to wage and salaried workers, and Coalition governments’ excessive share of company profits is being reduced.

The share of wage earners and salaried workers in total national income increased to 54.2 percent, the highest level in more than nine years. This rate was at 49% in the 2022 elections. See the table below.