Best business conditions in almost a decade

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Housing Finance; NAB Business survey; Consumer Sentiment Business survey: The NAB business conditions index rose from +10.9 points to a 9½-year high of +15.1 points in June. The business confidence

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Petrol near 9-month lows; Tame China inflation

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Petrol prices; China inflation data Petrol: According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average Australian price of unleaded petrol rose by 0.1 cents to 120.1 cents a litre

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In Review 2016/17: Remarkable for being unremarkable

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Economic & financial perspectives Good year for shares: Total returns on Australian shares (All Ordinaries Accumulation index) came in at 13.1 per cent over 2016/17 (20-year average +10.8 per cent)

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Soggy sentiment; Construction corrects

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Consumer sentiment; Engineering construction Consumer confidence eases: The weekly ANZ/Roy Morgan consumer confidence rating eased from 112.4 to a 5-week low of 111.8 in the week to June 25. Engineering

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Fastest population growth in three years

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Population estimates; Census data Population: Australia’s population expanded by 372,805 people over the year to December 2016 to 24,385,625 people. Overall, Australia’s annual population growth rate rose from 1.547 per

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Capacity use at 9yr highs. Debit accounts in vogue

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Credit/debit cards; Tourism; Business survey; Petrol; Consumer Confidence Business survey: The NAB business conditions index eased from +12.7 points to +12.0 points in May. The business confidence index eased from

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Record exports to China. Flood crimps coal exports

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International trade; China trade Trade surplus: The trade surplus fell from $3,169 million to $555 million in April. The Queensland floods were largely responsible in slashing coal receipts by $2,521

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Slowest pace of borrowing in three years

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Private sector credit; China Purchasing Managers Indexes Lending: Private sector credit rose by 0.4 per cent in April after a 0.4 per cent gain in March. Annual credit growth of

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Jobless rate nears 4-year lows

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Labour force Employment rose by 37,400 in April after rising by 60,000 in March (previously reported as a rise of 60,900 jobs). Full-time jobs fell by 11,600 while part-time jobs

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Savvy consumers; Healthy inbound tourism

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Credit & debit card data; Tourism The average credit card balance recorded fell by $25 to $3,124 in March. In smoothed terms (12 month average) the average balance was down

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