A comprehensive measure of Australia's overall production and consumption of goods and services. GDP is a significant reportserving as one of the primary indicators of a country's overall economic health.

Robust GDP growth signals a heightened level of economic activity and often a higher demand for the domestic currency. At the same time, economic expansion raises concerns about inflationary pressures which may prompt monetary authorities to increase interest rates. Thus positive GDP readings are generally bullish for the Australian Dollar, while negative readings are generally bearish.

Most production reports that lead to Australian GDP are released before the official GDP number. Therefore, actual GDP figures usually confirm expectations. However, an unexpected release can move markets due to the significance of the figure.

Technically, Gross Domestic Product is calculated in the following way:

GDP = C + I + G + (EX - IM)

where
C = private consumption
I = private investment
G = government expenditure
EX = exports of goods and services
IM = imports of goods and services

The headline figures for GDP are the percentage growth rate from the previous quarter and the annualized percentage change in GDP. Prices used are benchmarked to 1997 prices.

A budget that is prepared for a 12-month period. An annual budget outlines both the income and expenditures that are expected to be received and paid over the coming year. Annual budgets are used by individuals, corporations, governments and various other types of organizations.
 

ISM Non-Manufacturing gauge of business conditions in non-manufacturing industries, based on measures of employment trends, prices and new orders. Though non-manufacturing sectors make up the majority of the economy, the ISM Non-Manufacturing has less market impact because non-manufacturing data tends to be more cyclical and predictable. However, these sectors do account for a considerable portion of CPI. As a result, the figure gives insight into conditions which can impact output growth and inflationary pressures.

The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index is based on a sample survey of purchasing and supply executives, weighted according to industry contribution to GDP. The Index is calculated using 50% as the centerline between positive and negative expectations; the figure is reported in headlines as the percent change.

Note: There are 10 separate indexes reported, but Business Activity is considered the most important. The other nine indexes are: New Orders, Supplier Deliveries, Employment, Inventories, Prices, Backlog of Orders, New Export Orders, Imports, and Inventory Sentiment.