Flash PMI bounces into New Year

Friday 23 January 2026

Via Judo Bank.

Flash Australia Composite PMI Output Index: 55.5 (Dec: 51.0)
Flash Australia Services PMI Business Activity Index: 56.0 (Dec: 51.1)
Flash Australia Manufacturing PMI: 52.4 (Dec: 51.6)

To cope with rising workloads, Australian firms hired additional staff at the start of the new year. That said, the overall rate of employment growth softened in January compared to December, due to slower job creation in the service sector.

‘Tis a soft data index, but the RBA will worry that payrolls will follow through before long.

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.