Business-oriented services sectors: The Australian PSI® indicated expansion in only two of the five business-oriented sectors in November (trend). Business & property services reported good demand from infrastructure construction projects and communications services also described positive conditions. Businesses in the wholesale trade sector reported contracting activity after being stable the previous month. Finance & insurance contracted and at a faster pace than the previous month while transport & storage shrank at almost the same rate as October.
Consumer-oriented services sectors: Businesses in hospitality (cafes, restaurants and accommodation services) and in health, education & community services reported healthy expansion in November. Businesses in retail trade also reported positive conditions over the month, with some respondents experiencing a boost to sales as customers brought forward Christmas purchasing or participated in events such as ‘Black Friday’. Personal, recreational and other services was the only consumer-oriented services sector to contract in November, although the pace of contraction has slowed from the previous month.
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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.
