Biggest lift in planned investment in a decade

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Business investment The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said new business investment (spending on buildings and equipment) rose by 1.1 per cent in the December quarter to be up 9.8

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Rate hike worries rattle consumers

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Weekly consumer confidence; CBA card spending; CBA Household Spending Intentions The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence rating fell by 1.9 per cent to 99.9 points. Last week, household views on

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Cafes and restaurants surprise winners; record petrol price

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Retail Trade; Job ads; Weekly energy market update Retail trade fell by 4.4 per cent in December after rising 13.6 per cent in the three previous months. Retail trade rose

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Townhouse approvals hit 7½-year high before Omicron 

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Building approvals; Construction activity gauge Dwelling approvals rose by 8.2 per cent in December – the biggest lift in 9 months – to 17,698 units. But approvals are down 7.5

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CommSec State of the States: January 2022

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Overall results How are Australia’s states and territories performing? Each quarter CommSec attempts to find out. Now in its 13th year, the report also includes a section comparing annual growth

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Younger Aussies stare down Omicron

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Consumer confidence; Building activity The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment fell by 2 per cent to a 16-month low of 102.2 in January. But sentiment – for surveyed Aussies

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Weakest January consumer confidence in 30 years

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Consumer confidence; Overseas arrivals & departures The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence rating fell by 7.6 per cent – the biggest drop since March 2020 – to a 15-month low of

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The Big Issues of 2022

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For the past 20 years we have produced “The Big Issues” report – a report that has sought to highlight the issues that are expected to influence the economy and

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Near-record business confidence: Business survey

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Business survey; Consumer confidence; Household survey; Credit/debit cards The NAB business confidence index rose by 11.2 points to 20.8 points in October – the second highest result on record. Business

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Aussie petrol prices hit record high – Big oil cash splurge

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Energy market update Oil prices continued to rise last week with Nymex crude at fresh 7-year highs and Brent crude at 3-year highs. The Australian average weekly petrol price lifted

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