RBA Governor: Downturn less severe than first feared

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Reserve Bank Governor Testimony; APRA Chair speech Reserve Bank Governor Testimony: Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe appeared before the Australian Senate Select Committee on COVID-19. He said, “With the national

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Record declines in retail sales and job ads

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Retail trade; Skilled job vacancies; US economic forecasts Retail trade: ‘Preliminary’ retail trade fell by a record 17.9 per cent in April after rising a record 8.5 per cent increase

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Green shoots of recovery?

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Consumer confidence; Spending data; Weekly payrolls; Reserve Bank Consumer confidence: The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence rating rose by 2.2 per cent to 92.3 points. Sentiment has lifted for seven

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China’s economy on the mend

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Chinese economic data Retail sales fell at a 7.5 per cent annual rate (consensus: -6 per cent) in April after declining at a 15.8 per cent annual rate in the

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Historic day for Aussie job market

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Labour force Employment fell by 594,300 in April – the biggest monthly decline in jobs on record. Full-time jobs fell by 220,500 and part-time jobs fell by 373,800. The unemployment

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CTRL-ALT-DEL: Rebooting the economy

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Economic trends National Cabinet to meet: National Cabinet will meet on Friday and top of the agenda will be plans to re-open the economy after a period of hibernation. Stimulus

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Petrol prices near 16-year low

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Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney petrol prices lift Weekly Petrol Prices Petrol prices: According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average price of unleaded petrol fell by 2.3 cents

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Home sales hit 29-year lows – accommodation costs fall the most in 18 years

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Home sales hit 29-year lows Accommodation costs fall the most in 18 years Home prices; Producer prices; Manufacturing; COVID-19 impact on households Home prices: The CoreLogic Home Value Index of national home

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Biggest lift in business loans in 32 years

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Private sector credit; Export/import prices; China data Lending: Private sector credit (effectively outstanding loans) rose by 1.1 per cent in March after rising by 0.4 per cent in February. Annual

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Highest headline inflation in 5½ years   

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Consumer price index Inflation: The Consumer Price Index – the main measure of inflation in Australia – rose by 0.3 per cent in the March quarter (consensus: 0.2 per cent).

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