The December NAB survey is out and shows little improvement from November’s rollover:
The Survey again shows a patchwork economy with little-to-no momentum building. In December, conditions eased for the second successive month after October’s surprisingly strong result. As a result conditions are now a touch below the long run average.
Additionally, forward orders fell back significantly (broad based) suggesting soft demand conditions will continue in the near term. On the other hand, levels of capacity utilisation edged up a touch. The fall in conditions was driven by all three components (sales, profits and employment), with employment the weakest and now below long run averages – again pointing to sub-trend employment growth. By industry, the deterioration was particularly pronounced in construction and mining.