Australia's economy shrank 0.5 per cent in the September quarter, well below already pessimistic analyst forecasts and its steepest decline since the global financial crisis of late-2008.
The annual rate of growth came in at an anaemic 1.8 per cent, also below expectations.
Economists were generally expecting a slight fall in gross domestic product (GDP), with the typical forecast for a -0.1 per cent quarter and economic growth of 2.2 per cent over the year.
A range of partial figures led analysts to their downbeat predictions, with yesterday's trade data pointing to a 0.2 percentage point subtraction from economic growth, while construction data released last week were much worse than expected and business investment was also weak.
However, the final result was considerably weaker than forecast, pushing the Australian dollar down the best part of half a cent to 74.2 US cents by 11:38am (AEDT).
ABC
The annual rate of growth came in at an anaemic 1.8 per cent, also below expectations.
Economists were generally expecting a slight fall in gross domestic product (GDP), with the typical forecast for a -0.1 per cent quarter and economic growth of 2.2 per cent over the year.
A range of partial figures led analysts to their downbeat predictions, with yesterday's trade data pointing to a 0.2 percentage point subtraction from economic growth, while construction data released last week were much worse than expected and business investment was also weak.
However, the final result was considerably weaker than forecast, pushing the Australian dollar down the best part of half a cent to 74.2 US cents by 11:38am (AEDT).
ABC