Australian Economy

Via Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business: The Monthly Leading Indicator of Employment (the Indicator) has fallen for the sixteenth consecutive month in September 2019, after nine consecutive monthly rises.

From CBA: Retail Trade Preview – August 2019 ■ We estimate that the value of retail trade rose by 0.9% in August. ■ CBA’s Household Spending Intentions (HSI) measure, based on a sample of more than 2½ million households combined with relevant search information from Google Trends, indicates tax rebates are being spent.

No surprise here, via Westpac: Last month’s improved signal has been very short lived with the Index growth rate back firmly in negative territory where it has been stuck for eight of the last nine months.

This morning I was interviewed by Luke Grant from Radio 2GB to discuss yesterday’s article on Australia’s “bullshit” services jobs boom.

Via the AFR: An imminent return to boom-time employment levels in the Australian mining sector is likely to accelerate labour cost inflation that is already evident in the industry’s most active hubs in Western Australia and Queensland.

Economist Jason Murphy has penned an article on the rise in Australia’s services economy, which is now fuelling the lion’s share of jobs growth: Australia has turned into a services economy.

Water Minister, David Littleproud, has hypocritically attacked Australia’s states for failing to build enough dams to provide for Australia’s ballooning population: The federal government has sounded a warning about falling water security, saying the states have failed to match water storage with population growth over the past two decades.

Deary me. The Bellamy’s suitor is associated with a State Owned Enterprise (that is, the Chinese Communist Party) so obviously the acquisition should be blocked, if on no other grounds than unfair trade practices, blocking access then buying the company.

Via ANZ: Consumer confidence slumped to its lowest level in more than two years at the weekend, according to an ANZ survey that suggests people are preparing for more difficult economic conditions over the next five years.

Adrian Blundell-Wignall making more sense today: Monetary policy cannot “fix” stag-deflation in the West, the fundamental cause of which is excess investment in certain parts of the world.

The China-US trade war, alongside the souring of relations between China and Australia, has reportedly dampened the number of Chinese tourists visiting Australia.

Late last year, RBA boffin, Professor Ian Harper, spruiked the riches that supposedly come from Australia’s mass immigration ‘Big Australia’ policy: The Productivity Commission’s five-yearly review noted that 80 per cent of Australia’s output is produced in cities, and half of that comes from Sydney and Melbourne.

The Australian streaming video subscription market is about to get a lot more crowded, with Disney Plus and Apple TV both due to launch in November.

In the lead-up to its fake population summit, which has been hijacked by ‘Big Australia’ mafia, The SMH has released a report telling Sydneysiders to get used to longer and more uncomfortable commutes as another 1.3 million people overload the city by 2030: Overcrowded trains and busier roads.

As we know, the global economy is on the edge of an oil shock as Saudi Arabia reels from Houthi rebel attacks.

Via the excellent George Tharenou at UBS: …we expect RBA rate cuts & APRA credit easing to trigger a ‘mini-boom’ for home prices (5-10% y/y) & home loans (15-20% y/y).

First, I need to set the scene.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday released its overseas short-term arrivals and departures figures for July.

Federal Minister for Employment Michaelia Cash has called on businesses to invest more in workforce training.