The six-month annualized growth rate of the Westpac–Melbourne Institute Leading Index, which shows how much economic activity is expected to change in relation to trend three to nine months from now, went down from +0.44% in December to +0.02% in January.
Westpac argues, as I do, that the most recent data shows that the momentum that was apparent in the second half of 2025 has slowed down in the first half of 2026.
That momentum never got much above crappy in the first place, as the Leading Index shows.
