Commonwealth Treasury has produced a nice write-up of current economic conditions across the two-speed economy in its latest business liaison report. It contains sobering news for people in the retail sector and Queensland’s residential building industry:

Retail sector contacts report a sluggish start to the Christmas sales period with soft consumer spending on discretionary items, although spending on non-discretionary items remains solid. This weakness is affecting transport activity with little product moving on the east coast…

Contacts report that conditions in the commercial property sector remain weak. Discussions confirm that conditions in the residential construction sector also remain subdued, consistent with the softening housing market. In Victoria, residential construction activity is likely to moderate further from recent elevated levels, while the outlook for the Queensland market remains pessimistic. However, the New South Wales detached housing market is starting to recover from the record low levels of recent years.