"Today's national accounts confirm that the economy has slowed in the second half of 2018 which is consistent with Ai Group's monthly performance indicators since at least the middle of 2018," Ai Group Chief Executive, Innes Willox, said today.
"The very clear evidence of a slowing economy should put on notice all of those who are seeking to put additional cost and regulatory burdens on business, including adding further inflexibilities to employment conditions. If this happens, this would only slow our economy further and faster.
"The National Accounts indicate that Australia's exports could become especially vulnerable (and less reliable as a source of national income growth) in 2019 due to growing international risks to global trade and global supply chains.
"More positively, nominal GDP grew by 1% in Q3 to be up by 5.2% over the year (0.6% in the quarter and 3.7% p.a., in per capita terms). This included a welcome boost to total income for employees, which rose by a solid 1% in the quarter and 4.3% over the year, due to strong growth in employment over this period. Business profits were up strongly in Q3, although Monday's Business Indicators data release confirms that much of this boost went to the mining sector, with smaller income gains evident for businesses in other industries.
"The rate and composition of national growth matters to us all and a concentration on addressing this should be the most important focus of the national effort rather than the distraction of party politics," Mr Willox said.