Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Wage Price Index (Q4) The rise in wage growth in the fourth quarter may be the first real sign that wages are benefiting from the recent strength of jobs growth. But real wages have been stagnant for two years. And the... 21st February 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Will policymakers help housing? Recent suggestions by the Australian Treasurer that APRA could ease its current restrictions on mortgage lending seem to be motivated more by politics than financial stability. With the RBA and APRA... 15th February 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Labour Market (Jan.) The labour market started 2018 just as it ended 2017, with employment continuing to climb at a healthy clip. But the fall in hours worked to a record low will offset some of the boost to household... 15th February 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly An oasis of record low interest rates If global equity markets are fearing higher interest rates, as this week’s fall suggest, then Australia and New Zealand offer something of an oasis as both the RBA and RBNZ dropped some heavy hints... 9th February 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA hints that rates won’t rise this year The Reserve Bank of Australia used today’s Statement of Monetary Policy to hint for the third time this week that interest rates are unlikely to rise this year. We’ve been saying exactly that since... 9th February 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA hints it’s in no rush to raise rates The jitters in the financial markets are due to concerns that global interest rates will rise rapidly, but the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) did its part to calm fears by leaving interest rates at... 6th February 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Retail Sales & International Trade (Dec.) The fall in retail sales and the deterioration in the international trade balance in December probably won’t ease the current jitters in the financial markets, but the figures aren’t as bad as they... 6th February 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Slicing and dicing inflation Whichever way you look at it, there is very little evidence that the health of the economy is starting to boost inflation in Australia. Out of our six key charts that take a deep dive into the latest... 2nd February 2018 · 1 min read
RBA Watch Another year of record low rates Despite the strengthening of the activity data, the Reserve Bank of Australia won’t raise interest rates from 1.5% at the meeting on Tuesday 6th February and probably won’t hint in the following... 31st January 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Consumer Prices (Q4) It is possible that price pressures are a little stronger than the CPI data for the fourth quarter suggest. But the main message is that inflation is still hovering just below the 2-3% target and it... 31st January 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economic Outlook No rush to raise rates 2018 will be the first year this century that the Australian economy won’t benefit from either a mining or housing boom. In those circumstances, we doubt that GDP growth will rise above 2.5%. And... 28th January 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly TPP and the dazzling dollar The resurrection of the Trans-Pacific Partnership signals that Australia is open for business, but it won’t significantly boost economic growth. A weakening in the Australian dollar from the dazzling... 25th January 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack 2017 ends with a bang The flow of economic data released in Australia and New Zealand in recent weeks has been encouraging and suggests that after slowing in the third quarter of 2017, both economies regained some momentum... 24th January 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Is the strong end to 2017 a sign of things to come? Economic figures released in recent weeks have been notably stronger than expected, suggesting that the Australian economy had plenty of momentum going into the start of this year. But we doubt this... 18th January 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Labour Market (Dec.) The strong rise in employment in December rounded off an exceptional year for the labour market. Jobs growth is unlikely to be as strong this year, but the labour market will still make further... 18th January 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Consumer Confidence (Jan.) The further rise in the Westpac measure of consumer confidence in January adds to the recent run of encouraging news about the health of the household sector and suggests that the risks to our... 17th January 2018 · 1 min read
