Nine of the 13 main industry sectors reported month-on-month increases in revenue in April, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Even more encouragingly, all but one of the sectors reported year-on-year increases.
These sectors enjoyed both monthly and annual growth:
- Accommodation & food services
- Administrative & support services
- Arts & recreation services
- Information media & telecommunications
- Manufacturing
- Mining
- Retail trade
- Transport, postal & warehousing
- Wholesale trade
These sectors had a monthly decline in revenue but an annual increase:
- Electricity, gas, water & waste services
- Professional, scientific & technical services
- Other services
One sector experienced both a monthly and annual fall in revenue:
- Construction
Consumers have money to spend
Several other data points suggest the business sector has grounds for optimism about the near future.
Over the year to May, unemployment fell from 5.1% to 3.9%, according to the ABS. Higher employment levels generally translate into greater consumer spending.
Meanwhile, the household saving rate in the March quarter was 11.4%, which is high by historical standards. That suggests there are a lot of consumers with money to spend.
Roy Morgan’s business confidence index for May was 100.2 points, with anything above 100 indicating positive levels of confidence. Roy Morgan also found that 41.3% of businesses expect to be better off financially in 12 months, compared to 20.1% that expect to be worse off.
If you want to invest in plant, equipment, stock or any other revenue-generating items, I can help you finance the purchase.