Last month, CBA released analysis derived from internal data showing that average household disposable incomes have grown over the past year despite wage and salary losses, courtesy of emergency income support and early superannuation release:
The income of the average household rose by 4.2% over the year to Q2 20, up from 2.4% over the previous year. Salaries have fallen due to coronavirus job losses. But investment income and government benefits have increased sharply. Investment income is capturing the early withdrawal of super which is part of the COVID-19 response. Spending has fallen by around 9% over the year to Q2 20, with falls in Q1 and Q2.
This was followed by similar analysis by AlphaBeta, which also showed that household cash flows have lifted on the back of these same emergency support measures:
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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.
