International trade; Job advertisements; Petrol price
- The trade surplus widened in August. The trade surplus rose by $603 million to $2,346 million. Exports fell by 2.4 per cent while imports fell by 5.1 per cent.
- Petrol prices are set to rise – but modestly. Terminal gate or wholesale petrol prices hit fresh 11-month lows last Friday. But prices have since edged up by just under a cent a litre and regional gasoline prices are also rising. According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum the national average retail pump price fell just 0.2 cents a litre last week to $1.23 a litre.
- The job market is strengthening. The Advantage internet job index rose by 3.3 per cent in September, led by gains in heath care, accounting and IT. But the ANZ index of job ads rose by 0.7 per cent – the weakest increase in five months.