Australia's GDP Grows 0.4% in Q3, Below Expectations

Australia's economy expanded by 0.4 percent in the September quarter, falling short of market expectations for a 0.7 percent gain, according to data released Wednesday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The quarterly growth, which marked a slowdown from an upwardly revised 0.7 percent in the previous three months, contributed to an annual expansion of 2.1 percent, slightly below forecasts of 2.2 percent but above the Reserve Bank of Australia's estimate of trend growth at 2 percent.

The softer-than-anticipated performance was largely attributed to a significant drag from changes in inventories, which subtracted 0.5 percentage points from gross domestic product. Offsetting this, domestic final demand rose sharply by 1.1 percentage points, reflecting underlying resilience in private sector activity. Household consumption increased 0.5 percent, adding 0.3 percentage points to growth, though the rise was concentrated in essential spending such as banking services, electricity and health costs, which jumped 1 percent. Discretionary spending, by contrast, declined 0.2 percent, influenced by timing effects from earlier periods like extended Easter holidays and...