Australia's economy is officially above pre-pandemic levels as surging levels of construction and business investment lift the nation's bottom line.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveals Australia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose 1.8 per cent in the March quarter of 2021.
Over the past 12 months, Australia's economic activity has recovered to be above pre-pandemic levels and has grown 1.1 per cent.
READ MORE: Australia's unemployment rate falls to 5.5 per cent
Major recoveries were felt in dwelling investment, consistent with a recent surge in building approvals as owners take advantage of the HomeBuilder scheme and historically low interest rates.
Surprisingly, household spending also increased 1.2 per cent over the March quarter, adding 0.7 percentage points to the headline figures.
Yesterday RBA Governor Philip Lowe said the outlook globally showed "strong growth" for the rest of 2021 and into 2022.
READ MORE: Aussie wages lift just 1.5 per cent in 12 months
While announcing a hold on interest rates at the historically low level of 0.10 per cent, Dr Lowe said the central bank expects the economy to grow as Australians are vaccinated.
"The economic recovery in Australia is stronger than earlier expected and is forecast to continue. The Bank's central scenario is for GDP to grow by 4¾ per cent over this year and 3½ per cent over 2022," Mr Lowe said.
"This outlook is supported by fiscal measures and very accommodative financial conditions.
"An important ongoing source of uncertainty is the possibility of significant outbreaks of the virus, although this should diminish as more of the population is vaccinated."
READ MORE: Australia's 'biggest economic shock since Great Depression'
The Federal Government has pledged much of the nation's recovery on dropping the unemployment rate to below five per cent.
"Progress in reducing unemployment has been faster than expected, with the unemployment rate declining to 5.5 per cent in April," Dr Lowe said.
"Job vacancies are at a high level and a further decline in the unemployment rate to around 5 per cent is expected by the end of this year. There are reports of labour shortages in some parts of the economy."
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