From Westpac chief economist, Bill Evans: Today Reserve Bank Governor Lowe made his bi-annual address to the House of Representatives Standing Committee, Economics. His dominant theme is the need to support the economy through job creation. Every policy should be judged on its capacity to boost jobs. His position on borrowing and budget deficits is
The landscape of the financial advice industry has changed rapidly over the past decade, meaning major changes for clients and advisers alike. To unpack the changes, what these mean for clients and advisers, and what the future of financial advice looks like, we’ve brought Tristan Scifo and Harry Goldberg from Purpose Advisory onto the panel
The latest Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) data on mortgage repayment deferrals revealed that $195 billion of mortgages have been deferred by around 500,000 Australian households, accounting for 11% of total outstanding mortgage debt: Moreover, around one-third of investor mortgages have been deferred, according to APRA: With the September deadline on the resumption of mortgage
Last week, Australia’s richest university – the University of Melbourne – headed by the $1.5 million vice-chancellor Duncan Maskell, was embroiled in a major wage theft case involving 1500 staff: Millions of dollars are being quietly repaid to at least 1,500 academics in a “wage theft” case involving four faculties at Australia’s richest tertiary institution,
While Aussies are banned from travelling freely around the country, Australia’s farm and tourism lobbies have hatched a hare-brained scheme to fly backpackers into Australia to pick fruit and mind children: Backpackers prepared to pick fruit or work as au pairs could become the exception to Australia’s inbound travel ban under a pilot proposal by
The ABS has received short-term arrivals data for June, which has plunged to near zero: Visitors arriving in Australia for a short-term trip in June 2020 (original estimates): Decreased 99.2% compared to the corresponding month of the previous year Reported a total of 5,400 trips The timeline for the collapse is shown in the next
by Chris Becker The RBA Governor is trying to jawbone the Australian dollar lower in his testimony to Parliament today, stating the cash rate is likely to be 0.25% for five years or more, giving deposit holders around the country a coronary. The dollar is moving slightly lower, with the hourly chart showing a break
CBA’s head of Australian economics, Gareth Aird, asks this question today: The economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic will be long lasting. Labour market slack will remain elevated for many years which will supress wages growth and see monetary policy remain highly accommodative for an extended period of time. Private sector credit growth will be
Victoria has recorded another 372 COVID-19 infections and 14 deaths: Despite the daily rise, infections continue to trend lower: As does the growth rate: NSW, by contrast, recorded 9 new infections, 6 of which were locally acquired: However, the growth rate remains above one: But NSW still appears to be controlling the outbreak much better
Amid the slowest wage growth in the nation’s history, the CBA is urging the Morrison Government to bring personal forward tax cuts: Commonwealth Bank senior economist Belinda Allen said the combination of slowing wages growth and the tapering of government support measures such as JobKeeper meant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg should use the October budget to
So says the spruikers at the REIV: The final auction results for week ending 9 August 2020 from 89 per cent results collected by the REIV. For the latest updates, visit REIV Market Insights. https://t.co/6pIlgiUMMD#melbre #auction #realestate #reiv #reivmarketinsights pic.twitter.com/4gT3p50gXR — REIV (@REIVictoria) August 12, 2020 Not so says CoreLogic, whose final auction clearance report
Yesterday’s ABS labour force release for July revealed that Australia’s youth – i.e. those aged 15 to 24 years old – led the nation’s jobs rebound. The headline youth unemployment rate fell slightly to 16.3%, although it remained nearly three times higher than the rest of the labour market (5.8%): Of more interest, youth jobs
The Centre for Future Work has released a new report showing that Australia’s “pace of automation is lagging behind other industrial nations”: Startling new research from the Centre for Future Work has shown that Australia’s economy is now regressing in its use of new technology, with negative implications for productivity, incomes, and job quality. The
In the week ended 13 August 2020, the CoreLogic 5-city daily dwelling price index, which covers the five major capital city markets, fell another 0.20%: It was the 14th consecutive weekly decline. Falls were recorded across all major markets: Quarterly dwelling values are falling fast, led by Melbourne: Annual price growth remains strong but continues
By Chris Becker Wall Street stumbled on the stalemate on fiscal stimulus measures from Congress, although the NASDAQ kept going higher, with the most interesting moves on bond markets as the US initial jobless claims improved better than expected. The USD oscillated around the economic reports, finding more strength later in the session but gold
by Chris Becker Spot prices slipped yesterday with the Tianjin price down over 1% while Dalian futures were also volatile in morning trade before recovering alongside other assets in China in the afternoon: Meanwhile, according to Metalminer China is expected to drive a surge in scrap imports, due to a recent relaxation of scrap import
Last month, K&S Corporation posted a five-fold increase in net profit on the back of $12.4 million in JobKeeper subsidies: And earlier this week, The AFR reported that retailers receiving millions of dollars in JobKeeper subsidies are earning higher profits and paying significantly increased dividends to shareholders: Manchester and homewares retailer Adairs reported a 19 per
On Wednesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released its labour price index (LPI), which showed wage growth collapsing to a fresh all-time low in the June quarter, driven by the private sector: However, yesterday the ABS also released half-yearly average weekly earnings (AWE) data for May, which showed a surge in average earnings: Driven
From a perturbed Bill Evans at Westpac:
Global Macro / Markets / Investing: Why Capitalism is in Constant Conflict With Democracy – CounterPunch With bankruptcies and unemployment trending upwards, can crypto and alternative assets provide a safe-haven? – Zero Hedge Gold tumbles nearly 4%, set for sharpest daily slide in 5 months as yields pop – Market Watch Uber and Lyft’s ‘day
by Chris Becker Stock markets are generally have good sessions across Asia with gold moderating from its big correction previously, having not moved since the London fix last night at the $1933USD per ounce level, while silver is poised just below the $26 level, ready to breakout: In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite is toying
By Jesse Hermans, Policy Director at Prosper Australia, an NGO focussed on tax reform. The Thodey Review’s draft report is right to place land tax at the centre of its vision for state tax reform. Replacing stamp duty with what the Review called “the states’ best tax lever” has the potential, if enacted sensibly, to
New research from the Centre for Future Work highlights the economic contribution of Australia’s Technical and Further Education institutions. It has estimated that the TAFE system generates more than $6 billion in direct economic activity each year, while its total annual economic benefit is $92.5 billion. This equates to 4.5% of Australia’s GDP. The Centre
University students who fail more than half their subjects face losing government financial support under a proposal unveiled today by Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan: Tehan says it’s about ensuring students can’t take on a study load they won’t complete, leaving them with a large bill and no qualification. However, the students’ union claims it’s
As summarised earlier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today released its labour force report for July, which registered a 0.1% increase in the official unemployment rate to 7.5% despite a 114,700 rebound in jobs: Full-time jobs rose by 43,500, whereas part-time employment rose by 71,200: The participation rate rebounded another 0.6% to 64.66%, which
by Chris Becker The latest numberwang aka monthly employment report from the ABS has had little change on the Australian dollar which oscillated around its previous nightly close at the 71.70 providing only scalpers with opportunities around the release: Local stocks however hated the print with the ASX200 dropping nearly 1% at lunchtime: There’s been
Just in from the ABS: SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES Employment increased 114,700 to 12,460,800 people. Full-time employment increased 43,500 to 8,547,100 people and part-time employment increased 71,200 to 3,913,600 people. Unemployment increased 15,700 to 1,009,400 people. Unemployment rate increased less that 0.1 pts to 7.5%. Underemployment rate decreased 0.5 pts to 11.2%. Underutilisation rate decreased 0.4
Victoria has recorded another 278 COVID-19 cases alongside 8 deaths: The trend continues to improve: And the growth rate is now well below one: NSW recorded 12 new cases and one new death. But it continues to hold the line with only seven cases from local transmission: But its growth rate remains just above one:
CBA’s economics team has released more stunning data showing the extend to which government emergency income support is propping up the Australian economy: Household income has surged in recent weeks primarily due to government payments(latest data to 7 August). The number of people receiving JobSeeker has been increasing since early July across all states and
Data has been released on the Morrison Government’s first home buyer (FHB) deposit subsidy scheme, which reveals that more than half of all spots have filled in the second tranche, which opened in July: About 4500 spots are pending and more than 1000 application certificates have already been approved… Minister for Housing and Assistant Treasurer
