The total number of building approvals issued in Australia slid a seasonally adjusted 1.5 percent on month in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday - standing at 17,070.
That was in line with expectations following the 3.3 percent increase in September.
On a yearly basis, approvals tumbled 13.4 percent - but that also exceeded expectations for a fall of 14.0 percent after sliding 14.1 percent in the previous month.
Approvals for private sector houses added 2.7 percent on month but fell 4.1 percent on year. Approvals for private sector dwellings excluding houses dropped 4.8 percent on month and 22.2 percent on year.
The seasonally adjusted estimate of the value of total building approved rose 2.8 percent in October.
The value of residential building rose 2.1 percent, while the value of non-residential building rose 4.0 percent.
Also on Monday:
. Company operating profits in Australia were up a seasonally adjusted 1.9 percent on quarter in the third quarter of 2018, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. That missed expectations for an increase of 2.8 percent and was down from 2.0 percent in the three months prior.
Inventories were flat on quarter, missing forecasts for an increase of 0.4 percent and down from 0.6 percent in the second quarter. On a yearly basis, company profits were up 13.5 percent and inventories gained 1.6 percent.
Wages and salaries were up 0.9 percent on quarter and 4.3 percent on year.
. The manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in November, albeit at a much slower pace, the latest survey from the Australian Industry Group revealed with a Performance of Manufacturing Index score of 51.3.
That's down sharply from 58.3, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
Among the individual components of the survey, production, supplier deliveries, exports, sales, selling prices, average wages and capacity utilization all continued to expand but at a slower rate.
Finished stocks and input prices expanded at an accelerated rate, while employment and new orders fell into contraction.
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