1006.0 - Forward Work Program, 2014-15 to 2017-18  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 12/11/2014   
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BUSINESS INDICATORS

OBJECTIVES

The Business Indicators Program is responsible for providing a range of sub-annual main economic indicators, including:

  • monthly statistics of turnover by selected retail industries and the takeaway food services industry
  • quarterly statistics of company profits, inventories, sales and labour costs
  • quarterly statistics of actual and expected new capital expenditure
  • quarterly statistics of actual and expected mineral and petroleum exploration
  • biannual statistics of expected mineral and petroleum expenditure.

These data are essential inputs to the compilation of quarterly and annual National Accounts.

The main clients of the program include the Treasury; the Reserve Bank of Australia; various state and territory departments; banks; industry associations; and other financial analysts and commentators. These clients use the statistics as partial indicators of the National Accounts and as important indicators of economic activity in their own right.


OUTPUTS

The key statistical outputs of the program are:
Each publication contains both national and state level data and estimates in original, seasonally adjusted and trend terms. Business Indicators, Australia provides information on sales, labour costs, company profits and inventories. All of these publications except Mineral and Petroleum Exploration, Australia present current price data by industry. Where appropriate, estimates are presented as chain volume measures.


DEVELOPMENTS

The main medium-term developments in the program are to:
  • provide a 'per capita' measure of domestic Retail Trade. An experimental time series will be released early in 2014-15 with further work including the production of a seasonally adjusted and trend series to follow - due September 2014
  • extend Retail Trade’s coverage to include service industries, particularly those which have become more significant in household consumption expenditures, and investigate the appropriateness of an activity-based collection versus an industry-based approach. Quarterly experimental estimates of the value of sales of electricity and gas to consumers have been included in Retail Trade, Australia (cat. no. 8501.0) since the September 2013 release - due June 2015.


PROGRAM MANAGER

Bill Allen
Assistant Statistician
Macroeconomic Indicators

RESOURCES

Program costs
$m
2014-15
2.8
2015-16
2.4
2016-17
2.3