Latest PMI data showed the extent to which stricter measures to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak impacted the Australian service sector during April, with business activity contracting at a record rate. This was accompanied by a severe fall in sales amid reports of temporary business closures. Job shedding intensified as a result and business sentiment remained subdued. Prices also fell during the month.
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.
