5676.0 - Business Indicators, Australia, Sep 2006

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 04/12/2006

Page tools: Print

Print Page Print all pages in this product

Print All

Main Features
About this Release

SEPTEMBER KEY FIGURES

			Jun Qtr 06 to Sep Qtr 06	Sep Qtr 05 to Sep Qtr 06
			%	%

Sales of goods & services (Chain vol. meas.)
	Manufacturing
		Trend	-0.1	-1.1
		Seasonally Adjusted	0.3	-1.0
	Wholesale trade
		Trend	-0.2	1.5
		Seasonally Adjusted	-0.4	1.8
Inventories (Chain vol. meas.)
	Trend		-0.9	-0.9
	Seasonally Adjusted		-1.5	-1.1
Company gross operating profits
	Trend		2.3	9.5
	Seasonally Adjusted		0.6	8.3
Wages and salaries
	Seasonally Adjusted		1.1	6.2

Inventories (volume terms), Trend estimates - Quarterly change
Graph: Inventories (volume terms)

Company gross operating profits (current prices), Trend estimates - Quarterly change
Graph: Company gross operating profits (current prices) Trend estimates Quarterly change

Graph: Company gross operating profits (current prices) Trend estimates Quarterly change

SEPTEMBER KEY POINTS

CHAIN VOLUME ESTIMATES

The trend estimate for inventories decreased 0.9% in the September quarter 2006. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased 1.5%. Manufacturing and Wholesale industries are the main contributors to the fall this quarter.
The trend estimate for Manufacturing sales of goods and services decreased 0.1% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate rose 0.3%, the first increase following four consecutive falls.
The trend estimate for Wholesale trade's sales of goods and services fell 0.2% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased 0.4%, following a similar fall in the previous quarter.

CURRENT PRICE ESTIMATES

The trend estimate for company gross operating profits increased 2.3% in the September quarter 2006. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 0.6% following a strong increase of 5.2% in the previous quarter.
The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 1.2% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 1.1% this quarter, following a 1.5% rise in the previous quarter.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
December 2006	5 March 2007
March 2007	4 June 2007

CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

As happens each year, a seasonal re-analysis has been undertaken based on estimates up to and including the June quarter 2006. The most significant change has been a change to the seasonal adjustment methodology for the Mining sales of goods and services series. Rather than being seasonally adjusted at the current price level and the resulting factors being applied to the chain volume series, the chain volume series is now seasonally adjusted independently. Revisions to this series go back several years.

COMPARISON BETWEEN COMPANY GROSS OPERATING PROFITS AND GROSS OPERATING SURPLUS

Price changes have had an impact on the value of inventories held by Australian businesses this quarter. An inventories valuation adjustment (IVA) is applied in the calculation of the gross operating surplus of private non-financial corporations (GOS) estimate in the Australian National Accounts. As prices for inventories have risen by less in the September quarter than in the June quarter, growth in GOS will be higher after the application of the IVA. The IVA for the September quarter is $802m which is $1474m lower than June quarter IVA of $2276m. No adjustment is made to the company gross operating profits (CGOP) estimate in this publication and, as a result, users should exercise caution when comparing the two series. It should also be noted that there are other differences between the two series. In particular, changes are made to GOS when annual benchmarks are applied and slightly different seasonal factors apply to the two series. Given this, while CGOP movements are an appropriate indicator for GOS, it is not the case that the two series will have equivalent seasonally adjusted movements from quarter to quarter.

REVISIONS IN THIS ISSUE

There have been revisions to the Wholesale Trade Industry in this publication. An entity had been incorrectly reporting activity that it was undertaking as an agent for other businesses. As a result of correcting this the following series have been revised: Sales of Goods and Services, inventories and company gross operating profits. These revisions have not significantly altered the movements for these series.

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Fiona Cotsell on Sydney (02) 9268 4241.

ANALYSIS BY INDUSTRY

FEATURED SERIES

The following graphs and commentary refer to seasonally adjusted and trend estimates of: sales of goods and services ('Sales') and inventories ('Inv.') in volume terms; and wages and salaries ('Wages') and company gross operating profits ('CGOP') in current price terms.

TOTAL ALL INDUSTRIES

In current price terms, the trend estimate for company gross operating profits increased 2.3% in the September quarter 2006. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 0.6% this quarter, following a strong increase of 5.2% in June quarter 2006. The current price trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 1.2% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 1.1% this quarter, following an increase of 1.5% in the previous quarter.

Graph: Total All Industries - CGOP and Wages

In volume terms, the trend estimate for total inventories fell by 0.9% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased 1.5%, following a decrease of 1.0% in the previous quarter.

Graph: Total All Industries - Inventories

MINING

In current prices, the trend estimate for company gross operating profits increased 4.3% this quarter, the lowest growth rate since December quarter 2003. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased 2.9% this quarter, however it still remains at historically high levels. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 3.8% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 5.4%, following an increase of 2.1% in the previous quarter.

In volume terms, the trend estimate for sales of goods and services increased 1.4% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate fell 0.9%, following a strong increase of 5.0% in the previous quarter. The trend estimate for inventories decreased 2.3% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 0.5%, following a decrease of 6.5% in the previous quarter.

MANUFACTURING

In current price terms, the trend estimate for company gross operating profits increased 4.1% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 7.5% this quarter, following an increase of 3.4% in the previous quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 0.7% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 0.4%, the growth rate weakening compared to an increase of 1.2% in the previous quarter.

In volume terms, the trend estimate for sales of goods and services decreased 0.1% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 0.3%, the first increase following four consecutive falls. The trend estimate for inventories decreased 1.6% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased 1.9%, the sixth consecutive quarter of falls.

Graph: Manufacturing - Inventories and Sales

CONSTRUCTION

In current prices, the trend estimate for company gross operating profits fell 1.3% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 0.9%, the first increase following three quarters of falls. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 0.2% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 1.0%, the growth rate increasing compared to the relatively flat growth of the previous two quarters.

In volume terms, the trend estimate for sales of goods and services decreased 0.8% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate fell 0.7%, the third consecutive quarter of decreases.

WHOLESALE TRADE

In current prices, the trend estimate for company gross operating profits increased 1.1% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased 0.7%, following an increase of 4.5% in the previous quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 0.5% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 0.9%, following a small decrease in the previous quarter.

In volume terms, the trend estimate for sales of goods and services decreased 0.2% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased 0.4% following a similar fall last quarter. The trend estimate for inventories decreased 0.5% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased 1.6% following a small fall in the previous quarter.

Graph: Wholesale Trade - Inventories and Sales

RETAIL TRADE

In current prices, the trend estimate for company gross operating profits increased 0.5% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased 1.4% following a strong increase of 3.3% in the previous quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 0.9% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 1.5%, the growth rate increasing in comparison to the previous two quarters.

In volume terms, the trend estimate for sales of goods and services increased 0.1% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 0.4% following virtually no change in the previous two quarters. The trend estimate for inventories decreased 0.4% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased by 1.0%.

Graph: Retail Trade - Inventories and Sales

TRANSPORT AND STORAGE

In current prices, the trend estimate for company gross operating profits increased 5.3% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 7.3%, the growth rate increasing in comparison to the previous six quarters. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 2.0% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 1.3%, the growth rate slowing following stronger growth in the previous three quarters.

Graph: Transport and Storage - CGOP and Wages

In volume terms, the trend estimate for sales of goods and services increased 1.1% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 0.4%, following an increase of 1.6% in the previous quarter.

PROPERTY AND BUSINESS SERVICES

In current prices, the trend estimate for company gross operating profits increased 2.7% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate also increased 2.7%, following a large increase of 12.3% in the previous quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 1.3% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 1.0%, the growth rate falling slightly in comparison to the previous six quarters.

Graph: Property and Business Services - CGOP and Wages

In volume terms, the trend estimate for sales of goods and services increased 0.2% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased 0.3%, following an increase of 1.1% in the previous quarter.

Graph: Property and Business Services - Sales