The Brisbane Times has a report this morning on the well-known slump in business investment in Queensland, due partly to the completion or near completion of the LNG projects at Gladstone and partly to relatively low business confidence (see Qld Budget papers show business investment nosedives). Fortunately, residential building is recovering (see chart below based on new ABS data released yesterday), and this is helping Queensland avoid a further economic downturn that would see the unemployment rate increase above the stable rate of 6.5 per cent that Queensland Treasury is forecasting for the next two years.

As you might expect from all the cranes over Milton, West End and Newstead in Brisbane, the residential building recovery is driven by construction of apartments and townhouses (see chart below).