The quarterly CommSec State of States report assesses key indicators to establish the performance of the states and territories.
Last quarter, NSW was the overall economic leader alongside the Northern Territory. This time, NSW is leading the way on its own.
"NSW is on top because population has been growing in recent years and now home construction is responding to the shortage of accommodation," said the report.
Here is how the states and territories are currently shaping up across a range of factors:
Construction
Construction work is sitting higher than decade averages in six of the states and territories. The Northern Territory was up almost 171%, followed by Western Australia (33.4%), Queensland (10.7%) and New South Wales (10%).
While construction levels are largely robust, the gap between the strongest states and the weakest remains large.
Tasmania is now sitting at 4.7% below the decade averages and the ACT are just scraping by at 0.2%.
Economic growth
The Northern Territory is continuing to lead Australia’s economic activity, sitting at just under 45% above its ‘normal’ decade average. This region also has the fastest annual growth rate in the nation, up 3.2%.
The next strongest state for economic growth is Western Australia, sitting at 26% above the decade average, followed by the ACT (up 15.2%).
Both Tasmania and South Australia are seeing modest rates of less than 1% above decade averages.
In terms of retail spending, New South Wales has seen the strongest growth (up 6.3%), followed by Victoria (up 4.1%) and Tasmania (up 2.4%).
Unemployment
The latest unemployment rates are above their decade averages across all states and territories.
Northern Territory has retained its position as the nation’s strongest job market with an unemployment rate of 4.3%, followed by ACT at 4.4% and Western Australia on 5.7%.
Tasmania’s unemployment woes appear to be improving with the jobless rate falling to a 39 month low of 6.5%. While the unemployment rate in Western Australia may remain low, it has increased by 35% over the first quarter - the highest in Australia.
Population
Annual growth has eased in all states apart from the Northern Territory.
Western Australia is looking the strongest with an annual growth rate of 2.12%, however this is trending at 20.3% below decade-average levels. Victoria came in second with a growth of 1.77%, followed by New South Wales at 1.43%.
Tasmania has seen the strongest growth rate in 2.5 years at 0.64%.
Housing finance
Victoria has now taken the top spot in Australia for housing finance with commitments 11.5% above the long-term average. Next strongest were New South Wales on 10.4% and Western Australia at 5.5%.
Northern Territory remains the weakest market for housing finance with commitments 23% below its decade average. The next weakest was South Australia down 13.7% and Tasmania at 10.8% below its decade average.
