Total building approvals soared by 6.8 per cent in January,...

Total building approvals soared by 6.8 per cent in January, exceeding economists' expectations of a 0.5 per cent increase for the month.

The sharp jump came after three straight months of falls.

Approvals for private sector houses also lifted strong by 8.3 per cent for January, while approvals for private sector apartments rose by 4.6 per cent.

In other economic data out today, the current account deficit narrowed to a seasonally adjusted $10.1 billion in the December quarter, with net exports expected to contribute 0.6 percentage points of growth to the fourth-quarter GDP figures released tomorrow.

Economists had tipped the deficit, which means that Australia imports more than it exports, to fall to $10 billion and for net exports to add 0.7 percentages points to growth over the last three months of 2013.

The deficit had widened in the September quarter to $12.71 billion.