Australian Economy

From University of Sydney adjunct professor Adrian Blundell-Wignall: Years of rapid debt accumulation have left China facing a “major financial danger”, which in turn poses an economic threat to Australia’s future prosperity, University of Sydney adjunct professor Adrian Blundell-Wignall warns.

The ABS is out with June Labor Force and the news is soft: SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES Employment increased 500 to 12,871,700 persons.

At Domain: Staff at a restaurant in Chinatown were paid as little as $5 an hour, slept on milk crates in the kitchen and were sacked via social media, according to a complaint to the workplace watchdog.

Former Howard Government minister, Nick Minchin, has lashed the Abbott Government for allowing the car industry to go under: “It’s extremely disappointing that it was the first Coalition governm­ent elected after Labor’s interregnum in 2013 that presided over the closure of the car industry.

Roy Morgan has released new research showing that Australia’s tourism industry is growing only because of strong population growth: It’s Official: Australian population growth since 2000 is powering the travel industry as proportionally fewer Australians are taking a holiday today than two decades ago.

Regional communities across Australia are staring down the barrel of what authorities dub “day zero”: Almost a dozen towns across regional New South Wales and southern Queensland are staring down the battle of a crisis that’s been dubbed “day zero”.

Via Westpac: • The six month annualised growth rate in the Westpac– Melbourne Institute Leading Index, which indicates the likely pace of economic activity relative to trend three to nine months into the future, rose from –0.47% in May to –0.02% in June.

It ain’t rocket surgery, via the BBC: Wage growth in the UK accelerated to 3.6% in the year to May 2019, the highest rate since 2008, according to Office for National Statistics figures.

The Executive Connection’s latest survey of CEOs shows that more than 37% expect their employees to receive no pay rise in 2019, or at best an increase of no more than 2%.

Urban Infrastructure Minister Alan Tudge has called on the states to lift their investment in infrastructure to help stimulate the Australian economy, claiming they have greater capacity than the Commonwealth.

Via The Australian: Stubborn employees who ­refuse to move into more productive companies are a major cause of the nation’s record-low wages growth, new Treasury research will reveal today.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics on Friday released its overseas short-term arrivals and departures figures for May, which showed a continued trend worsening in Australia’s ‘tourism balance’.

Via the Kouk: The weak economy is turning higher In the space of a couple of months, the rhetoric on the economy has gone from strong to weak.

Via Westpac: Westpac is forecasting a 0.5% rise in the June quarter CPI lifting the annual pace to 1.5%yr from 1.3%yr.

Via Stephen Letts at the ABC: The Federal Government’s tentative steps towards reregulating the retail energy market have seen power prices rise and competitive pressure between rival suppliers ease.

Via Westpac’s Justin Smirk: In the year to 2019 Q2, total employment grew by 364.2k or 2.9%yr.

Lot’s of triumphal coverage of Deloitte’s new business outlook report today across the media.

The ABS has released its biennial Household Income and Wealth survey, which confirms that wealth inequality has unambiguously worsened: The distribution of wealth is more unequal than the distribution of income.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released visitor arrivals and departures statistics for the month of May, which reveals that the number of permanent and long-term arrivals into Australia hit another record high.

Chief Lunatic, Philip Lowe, says he is in full agreement with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s view that the Australian economy remains sound.

The superannuation guarantee is legislated to increase from 9.5 per cent to 12 per cent between 2021 and 2025, and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has said that the federal government has no plans to change the legislated increase.

One of the ramifications of Australia having one of the world’s largest household debt loads, which is running at 190% of disposable income: Is that when wage growth is anaemic and an economic downturn hits, it leaves highly indebted households exposed to bankruptcy.

From Roy Morgan Research: In June, Australians expected annual inflation of 3.8% over the next two years as the RBA cut interest rates to a record low 1.25% in the first week of June.

News.com.au has taken a detailed look at the Greater Sydneys Commission’s economic apartheid plans for Sydney: It’s known by various names — all seemingly designed to elicit a chuckle.

From Martin North at Digital Finance Analytics: After the slight twitch of positive sentiment following the election in May, the DFA Household Finance Confidence Index fell again, to a new low of 85.54.