Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows the pace of growth of the Australian economy slowed in the March quarter to 0.3 per cent in seasonally adjusted chain volume terms. Through the year, GDP grew 1.7 per cent. Growth was recorded across the economy with 17 out of 20 industries growing during the quarter. Strong growth was observed within the service industries including Finance and Insurance Services, Wholesale Trade, and Health Care and Social Assistance. Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing decreased after strong growth in the previous two quarters, while Manufacturing decreased for the tenth time ... (full story)

Australia has taken the record for the longest run of uninterrupted growth in the developed world, figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics have revealed. Gross domestic product grew by 0.3 per cent in the three months to March, matching economists' expectations of the country crawling across the line to grab the record from the Netherlands. It has now been 26 years - or 103 quarters - since Australia had a technical recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. But Wednesday's result has seen the economy slump to its slowest pace since 2009, with year on year growth of just 1.7 ... (full story)