Five of the nine services sub-sectors in the Australian PSI® expanded in March (trend data). Property and business services continued to grow strongly (58.0) while finance and insurance (55.5) and wholesale trade (54.3 points) also experienced solid growth. Growth in retail trade was modest but steady (52.3 points) while personal and recreational services slowed in March, with its index falling 3.6 points to 51.3 points.
Transport and storage (49.6) was stable again in March. Health and community services (47.8 points) contracted mildly, while Accommodation, cafes and restaurants (44.9 points) contracted for a fifteenth month, albeit at a slower pace. Communications services (42.0 points) shrank for a sixth month and at a faster rate than in February.
Respondents to the Australian PSI® noted that suppliers to the house construction and defence sectors experienced stronger demand, with low interest rates and stronger migration having a positive effect on their sales. In other sectors, respondents reported lower customer demand from households and increased discounting by competitors.
Respondents to the Australian PSI® noted that suppliers to the house construction and defence sectors experienced stronger demand, with low interest rates and stronger migration having a positive effect on their sales. In other sectors, respondents reported lower customer demand from households and increased discounting by competitors.
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal.
He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.
