RDP 9102: Indicators of Economic Activity: A Review Appendix: Data Sources

Malcolm Edey and Jill Pleban

March 1991

1. National Accounts

All national accounts data used for estimation purposes are from the National Income and Expenditure (ABS 5206.0) release for June quarter 1989. Graphs, however, use data from the September quarter 1990 release. With the exceptions noted in Tables 9 and 10, the variables are log-differences of the constant price seasonally adjusted quarterly series.

2. Housing

* Housing finance for owner occupation (ABS 5609.0), new dwellings, monthly, s.a., available from October 1975.
* Building approvals (ABS 8731.0), total, monthly, s.a..
* HIA net sales, published by the Housing Industry Association, available monthly from January 1983.

3. Investment

* CAI-Westpac survey, conducted jointly by the Confederation of Australian Industry and Westpac, published quarterly. The survey gives net balances of respondents expecting an increase in investment spending in the coming quarter, with separate questions relating to plant and equipment investment and investment in buildings and structures.
* Capital expenditure survey (ABS 5626.0).
* Non-residential building approvals (current price values, monthly, n.s.a.) are taken from the ABS Building Approvals release (ABS 8731.0).

4. Consumption

* Retail Trade (ABS 8501.0), quarterly constant price, s.a. series.
* Motor Vehicle Registrations (ABS 9301.0), number of motor cars and station wagons registered, monthly, s.a..
* Consumer sentiment index, published by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, n.s.a..

5. Labour Market

* Labour force (ABS 6202.0), number employed, monthly, s.a..
* ANZ job vacancies series is a survey of the number of job advertisements appearing in major newspapers, published monthly by the ANZ bank.

All series are used in log-differenced form apart from the CAI-Westpac net balances, which are differenced in levels. Monthly series are aggregated into quarterly totals when used in quarterly regressions. A print-out of data used is available from the authors on request.