Australian Economy

By Leith van Onselen Below is RBA Governor Phil Lowe’s opening statement to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics: Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the Committee today.

By Leith van Onselen After Melbourne on Tuesday lost its bogus title of “most liveable city”, Lord Mayor Sally Capp offered a rare dose of honesty on the primary reason why: Calling Melbourne a “victim of its own success,” Mayor Capp said the city’s growth had made it harder to meet the liveability criteria.

By Leith van Onselen Harold Mitchell has penned an article today in Fairfax warning that the recent sharp decline in new car sales is like the “canary in a coal mine” for the economy: Car sales are dropping.

By Leith van Onselen If you want a textbook example of how Australian academia has lost its credibility, look no further than the below analysis from University of Western Sydney Economics Professor Raja Junankar in The Conversation: Many who fear Australia’s population boom believe we should be cutting down on immigration.

By Leith van Onselen Yesterday’s ABS labour force release for July revealed a softening Australian youth labour market – i.e.

By Leith van Onselen It seems Australia’s latest export growth industry – selling university degrees (and residency) to international students – is under threat as China competes harder for international students.

By Leith van Onselen The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released the Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) data for the six months to May 2018.

By Leith van Onselen As summarised earlier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today released its labour force report for July, which registered a 3,900 decrease in total employment but a 0.1% fall in the headline unemployment rate to 5.3%, driven by a fall in labour force participation.

ABS Labour Force for July is out and the news is weakness: SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)  Employment decreased 3,900 to 12,575,200.

Via the AFR: A worsening of drought conditions in Australia could put market forecasts for economic growth at risk warns Citigroup, wiping more than half a percentage point from GDP growth in 2018-19 assuming the economy experiences a 20 per cent fall in farm production.

It’s like trying draw blood from a stone.

By Leith van Onselen Yesterday’s wages price index released by the ABS revealed a softening of annual wages growth to just 2.1%: When adjusted for underlying inflation, real wages increased by a measly 0.2% in the year to June: However, there is a big disconnect between the private and public sectors.

By Leith van Onselen The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has just released its Labor Price Index for the June quarter of 2018, which revealed a trend weakening in wages growth from already anaemic levels: According to the ABS, wages grew by 0.62% (s.a.) and 0.47% (trend) in the June quarter.

From Martin North today: The latest edition of the DFA Household Financial Confidence Index to end July 2018 remains in below average territory, coming in at 89.6, compared with 89.7 last month.

By Leith van Onselen It’s amazing how an election campaign suddenly forces politicians to speak in the public interest.

Via Bill Evans: The consumer mood deteriorated in August, giving back about half of the surprisingly strong gains seen in June and July.

By Leith van Onselen “Smoke and mirrors”.