The ANZ Stateometer for the September quarter has confirmed that the Victorian economy is the worst-performing in the nation and things are set to get worse.
The report shows that in the September quarter, Victoria was the only state with an economy that was performing below trend and was decelerating, meaning that the economy was not recovering but continuing to deteriorate.
Many key indicators inside the Victorian economy were also showing the depth of the crisis in which the state finds itself. Business sentiment remained about 7 per cent below average, retail sales were down 6.6 per cent, and Melbourne has experienced the largest dwelling-price declines of any capital city, with prices down 3.1 per cent and continuing to fall.
All this contributed to employment being 6.5 per cent lower in September than it was in March when the pandemic began.
Comments attributable to Shadow Treasurer, Louise Staley:
“The more data were are seeing, the more confirmation we have of the size of the economic crisis facing Victorians.
“As the rest of Australia recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, Victoria’s economy continues to struggle due to the second wave caused by Labor’s bungled hotel quarantine program and inadequate contact tracing.
“The employment stats confirm what the ABS has told us: tens of thousands of Victorians have lost their jobs during this pandemic.
“Now is the time to restart Victoria’s economic recovery Every day that Labor fails to act is another day Victorians are looking for work, looking to make ends meet and looking for hope.
“Victoria is now the economic basket case of Australia, due to Labor’s mismanagement and recklessness.”
