Happy news for Canberra economy, Deloitte Access Economics says

"There are two big guns of Canberra's economy - what's happening to interest rates, and what's happening on Capital Hill," said Deloitte Access Economics partner Chris Richardson.

"That the answer to both those is 'nothing much' is music to the ears of the outlook."

Deloitte's quarterly business outlook predicts that the Reserve Bank will not raise interest rates until late this year, or more likely early next year.

Report author Mr RIchardson said that was happy news for the ACT, which the report authors say is one "big fat mortgage belt, and it seems that belt is unlikely to be tightened anytime soon".

"The other bit of happy news is that governments have been increasingly unable to govern effectively – a trend that arguably stretches back for a couple of decades, but which has intensified of late," Mr Richardson said.

"That's important for the outlook for the ACT economy because, in our view, if either side got command of parliament in any substantive sense, then chances are they'd take a tougher line on public sector employment, which still dominates the jobs scene in the ACT.

"The last Federal Budget saw the Feds move from Budget repair via spending restraint to Budget repair via increased taxes. This will at least ensure that no further pressure is added to the already constrained environment the ACT's largest employer finds itself in."

A separate report, CommSec's first State of the States report of the year, was also released on Monday.

The ACT is top-ranked on housing finance and has seen big improvements in its job market, according to its authors.

Overall, the capital has retained its spot in third place on the performance rankings, supported by a stronger job market.

Canberra's annual employment growth is now the strongest in almost a decade, the report authors write.

The State of the States report, released quarterly, gauges how Australia's states and territories are performing by analysing eight key indicators: economic growth, retail spending, business investment, unemployment, construction work done, population growth, housing finance and dwelling commencements.

The ACT is also now second-ranked on unemployment. The 3.7 per cent trend jobless rate is 3.5 per cent below the "normal", which the authors describe as the decade-average.

The ACT also has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation.

In annual population growth, the territory, up 1.69 per cent, was second fastest behind Victoria, up 2.34 per cent.

The ACT remains in top spot on housing finance, with the number of commitments up by 36.7 per cent on the long-term average.

"Housing finance is not just a leading indicator for real estate activity and housing construction but it is also a useful indicator of activity in the financial sector," the report says.

The ACT is second to NSW in new homes being built, the report says.

Canberra home prices grew by 4.9 per cent in the last year, the report says.

Wages grew by 1.9 per cent, while the consumer price index sits at 2.1 per cent.