Australian Economy

In 2024, the NSW Productivity and Equality Commission warned that high housing costs were causing a “brain drain” among 30- to 40-year-olds in Sydney.

This is my fourteenth year of working from home.

The odds of a near-term interest rate hike have increased dramatically following Thursday’s labour force report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which showed that headline unemployment declined to 4.1% in December, down from 4.3%.

Last week, CBA released its wage tracker for December, which draws on de-identified salary flows from around 400,000 CBA accounts to provide an early snapshot of wage growth.

ANZ – Consumer Confidence at Royal Morgan slumped 5.2 points to 79.3 points last week.

Australia’s November CPI release from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported that housing inflation rose by 5.2% over the year to November 2025.

Goldman has an AI tracker series to add to the data mix.

Tender offers are not just a matter of corporate finance lingo, but a glimpse into how firms consider risk, value, and growth.

In Australia’s current economic climate, property investors and homeowners face a critical decision: invest in bespoke renovations or opt for a knockdown rebuild.

When infrastructure concentrates, the value moves up the stack into trust.

With the release of the latest gross operating company profit data from the ABS, it was revealed that they were flat in nominal terms for the quarter, despite analysts expecting a 1.5% quarter-over-quarter rise.

Since the Albanese government came to power in May 2022, the size of day-to-day government spending relative to GDP has gotten larger and larger, to the point where only the absolute height of the Covid panic saw government playing a greater role in the economy.

With the release of the latest Commonwealth Bank Household Spending data, it was revealed that for yet another year most households saw their spending go backwards once adjusted for inflation.

Roy Morgan reports that mortgage stress has fallen to its lowest level since January 2023, following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) three 25 bp rate cuts.

As the push and pull over the prospect of rate rises in 2026 continues, the signals coming from forward looking labour market indicators are painting quite a different picture.

From boom levels to more moderate.

I’d better say this before I am arrested in two days. The CBA Labour and Wage Report (is that a religious text I can quote from?) is a terrific leading indicator for wage growth.

Every year, consumer confidence surveys perk up as households bask in the afterglow of the holiday season and make New Year’s resolutions, creating a brief rise in optimism that conditions might be better in the year ahead.

Australia’s pet industry has undergone a rapid transformation over the past decade, driven largely by the rise of e-commerce and changing consumer expectations.

When the ABS released the previous installment of its Household Spending Indicator (which has replaced its retail sales index) last month, the data was further fuel for the narrative that the next move in interest rates would be up.

The US AI jobpocalypse took a breather on Friday night.

In the years since the Global Financial Crisis, the Australian economy has become ever more reliant on government for positive outcomes.

When first moving to a new country, it’s natural to schedule your first few days accomplishing administrative tasks to make living there feel smooth and convenient.

Below is another excellent post from MB reader Erin Rolandsen, CEO of Angelassist and author of beyondtheragemachine.substack.com:  High levels of short-term immigration have made official population measures unfit for purpose.