Australia's economy barley grew in the June quarter, and expanded just 1 per cent over the last year, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Excluding the COVID-19 pandemic, that's weakest annual growth since the 1990s recession. Individually, Australians continue to go backwards in what's known as per capita recession. Living standards have now been falling for 18 months. With high inflation and high interest rates keeping some households under immense pressure, economic growth in the June quarter was driven by increased spending by governments and population growth. Cash-strapped households barely put much money aside and they cut back on luxuries, like air travel and eating out. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has previously warned the Reserve Bank's 13 interest rate rises are "smashing the economy". Economists expect the RBA to cut rates in early 2025. #ABCBusiness Subscribe: http://ab.co/1svxLVE Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-04/gdp-june-quarter-2024-australia-economic-growth/104305324 ABC News provides around the clock coverage of news events as they break in Australia and abroad. It's news when you want it, from Australia's most trusted news organisation. For more from ABC News, click here: https://ab.co/2kxYCZY Watch more ABC News content ad-free on ABC iview: https://ab.co/2OB7Mk1 Go deeper on our ABC News In-depth channel: https://ab.co/2lNeBn2 Like ABC News on Facebook: http://facebook.com/abcnews.au Follow ABC News on Instagram: http://instagram.com/abcnews_au Follow ABC News on X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/abcnews Note: In most cases, our captions are auto-generated. #ABCNews #ABCNewsAustralia