CommSec says Tasmanian economy leading the nation

That is going by CommSec's latest State of the States report, which ranked Tasmania ahead of Victoria - where the economy is now taking an extended belting from the pandemic - and the ACT.

Tasmania shared top spot with Victoria in the previous report, issued three months ago.

CommSec chief economist Craig James said the coronavirus crisis presented significant challenges for all states and territories.

"Some have been more successful in suppressing coronavirus cases and that may lead to relative outperformance on economic indicators in future months," Mr James said.

"Each state and territory has its unique pressures.

"For example, domestic tourism will impact the states differently.

"However, the coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated how we're all interconnected."

Mr James said infrastructure spending would be vital for generating economic momentum.

"Further, the performance of the Chinese economy will be important in driving resource and engineering sectors," he said.

Tasmania's economy led the nation on four of the eight measures used in the report.

They were retail spending, investment in equipment, unemployment against the decade average and relative population growth.

"The Apple Isle is now leading the rankings primarily due to above normal growth in population - that is, faster than the decade average - and subsequent strong demand for new homes as well as an improved relative performance of the job market and consumer spending," CommSec said.

Tasmania ranked third for economic growth and second for construction work and dwelling starts.

Some of the data used for the report was from the March quarter - before the Australian pandemic recession fully took hold - but some was more recent, including unemployment numbers from June.