Australia’s services economy dies

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The Australian Industry Group (AIG) today released its Performance of Services Index (PSI), which shows that Australia’s services sector is dead as a dodo:

According to AIG, the PSI fell “0.1 points to 31.5 points in June 2020 (seasonally adjusted), indicating another serious contraction in activity in June and at a similar pace to May. This was the second lowest result in the history of this series, following a record low in April (commencing in 2003)”.

As shown below, it is a sea of red ink with all sub-sectors contracting:

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Importantly, wages and employment have collapsed:

Alongside sales and new orders:

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Whereas spare capacity is at record levels:

Better ramp-up immigration (not!).

About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.