Made in Australia declines

By Adeline T on Sunday, 4 January 2009

A survey conducted by the Australian Industry Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers has shown a decline in Australian manufacturing due to the reduction in demand for goods domestically and overseas.

The survey took in responses regarding December activity, recording a fall for the seventh straight month. However, the rate of decline for December has slowed compared with November’s results.

The results indicated that measures such as lower official interest rates and heightened government spending, including the Federal Government’s $10.4 billion economic stimulus, had not yet affected demand for Australian manufactured goods.

PricewaterhouseCoopers spokesperson Graeme Billings, global leader of industrial manufacturing, says the results bode ill for the sector: “While wages and input cost growth have eased, selling price growth has also weakened.”