Australia's economy shrank 1.9 per cent in the September quarter, but was still 3.9 per cent bigger than it was at the same point in 2020, after the initial COVID-19 lockdowns. Most economists had been expecting GDP to contract by more than 3 percent. ABC's Peter Ryan says the figures point to an economic rebound already underway. Featured: Peter Ryan, ABC.

The result was much better than most economists had feared, with forecasts centring on a 2.7 per cent quarterly decline as large parts of the economy were shut in New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT for most or all of the September quarter.