Most of the econonmy was contracting in December

David Llewellyn-Smith

Friday 9 February 2024

Can we survive on Arts alone? The ABS business turnover indicator is out for December.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the December 2023 monthly business turnover indicator showed:

Falls in 8 of the 13 published industries
The largest fall was in Retail trade (-3.3%)
The largest rise was in Arts and recreation services (2.3%)
Year-on-year, rises were seen in 8 of 13 published industries

This corroborates retail sales, NAB survey, CPI and labour force vis a December stall.

If it persisted into January, the RBA will have to pivot.

About the author

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.