Australian Economy

For years we watched in dismay as The Guardian’s left-leaning economic poster boy, Greg Jericho, defended Australia’s mass immigration program, arguing that immigration doesn’t suppress wages, among other things.

Australia has recorded 4,302 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began, including about 3,000 deaths during the Delta and Omicron waves.

A new report from RMIT Online and Deloitte Access Economics claims the Australian economy has been hit hard from the loss of 380,000 migrants over the pandemic: RMIT Online and Deloitte Access Economics suggest the Australian economy produced some $148 billion less in GDP than it would have in a pandemic-free world.

Westpac with the note: The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment fell by 1.3% to 100.8 in February from 102.2 in January.

Below is an article written for News.com.au, published yesterday: After two years sealed shut, the Morrison Government yesterday announced that Australia’s international border will reopen to double-vaccinated tourists from February 21.

According to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, a ­record 300,000 Australian workers switched to better jobs over the final three months of last year chasing higher pay: “Unlike some other countries, we are seeing a ‘great reshuffle’ rather than a ‘great resignation’”… “A stronger and more dynamic jobs market leads to increased productivity and wages.

National Cabinet is expected to announce that booster vaccine shots will soon become mandatory for Australians, despite around 2.5 million people across the nation already recorded as being infected with Omicron (and many more unrecorded).

The ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index remains in the gutter after falling another 1.9%: Confidence is now tracking well below the long-run average, as well as tracking below below the neutral level of 100. WA suffered the biggest loss (-8.1%), followed by Queensland -3.4%, SA -1.9% and NSW -1.7%.

Australia has recorded 4,201 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

Last week I reported analysis of data from the federal Department of Health, which showed that that there were 203,148 cases of COVID-19 in Australia between January 2020 and 25 November 2021.

Shaping a little better than the Delta lockdowns now though still a material blow to growth: ― The Westpac Card Tracker Index dipped 1.1pts to 106.3 over the last week of Jan, marking a further slight softening in activity.

Deloitte’s latest quarterly capex outlook report is out: Business investment has returned to pre-COVID levels ahead of the Omicron outbreak.