Powerhouse mining sector

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Quarterly Labour force data; RBA Speech; Imports In percentage terms, employment in the mining sector expanded rapidly over the past year. In the year to August, mining sector employment grew... Read more continue reading

Consumers display caution

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Dwelling starts at six-year Consumer sentiment; New car sales; Dwelling starts The Westpac/Melbourne Institute index of consumer confidence eased in the latest month. The index fell by 5.0 per cent... Read more continue reading

Businesses hopeful; Farmers rejoice; Cash is still king

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NAB business survey; ABARE Crop Report; Consumer finances Business confidence is up; conditions are down. According to the NAB business survey, the business confidence index rose from +2.4 in July... Read more continue reading

More joy for motorists; Construction loans slump

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Lending finance; Petrol price; Credit/debit cards The Australian Institute of Petroleum reports that the average Australian petrol price fell by 2.2 cents last week. Over the past fortnight prices have... Read more continue reading

Aussie tourism in trouble

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Regional economy Australia’s tourism sector was already in trouble, but it is now set to come under even more pressure from renewed strength of the Aussie dollar. The Australian dollar... Read more continue reading

Chinese economy powers along

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Chinese economic data The Chinese economy strengthened in August. Production, retail trade, inflation and money supply all grew at a stronger annual rate in August suggesting that authorities will need... Read more continue reading

China engineers a soft landing

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Chinese economic data; Mobile phone sales Chinese trade surplus eases as imports surge. China recorded a trade surplus of US$20.03 billion in August – below forecasts centred on a result... Read more continue reading

Weekly market & economic update 10 September 2010

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Headline developments of the past week US President Obama announced plans for another round of fiscal stimulus including increased infrastructure spending, accelerated tax write-offs for new investment that would allow... Read more continue reading

Lessons for US shares today from Aust in the early 1990s

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Key points Shares normally go through a tough patch in the second year following a bear market low. This can reflect worries about monetary policy tightening or worries about a... Read more continue reading

Unemployment rate slides to 19-month low

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Labour force Employment rose by 30,900 in August, in line with forecasts centred on job gains of around 29,000. The July result was revised up to show job growth of... Read more continue reading