Building and construction work done rose in the March quarter, yet residential building barely changed, according to figures released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Seasonally adjusted, the chain volume of construction work done in the March quarter rose by 1.9 per cent to $39.5 billion to be 5.6 per cent above levels in the March quarter 2009.
Work done on residential building rose by 0.9 per cent to $10.6 billion, to be up 0.8 per cent on the corresponding figure a year earlier.
Master Builders Australia's Chief Economist Peter Jones said that public spending on education and social housing is strongly cushioning the building and construction industry from what would otherwise have been a sharp downturn.
"In the past 12 months, building work done for the public sector has more than doubled, offsetting a big fall in private work", Mr. Jones said.
"The key to the outlook for the building and construction industry will be whether an upswing in residential building can offset weak non-residential building, particularly as stimulus spending programs begin to wind down", he added.