State of the States

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State & territory economic performance report How are Australia’s states and territories performing? Each quarter CommSec attempts to find out by analysing eight key indicators: economic growth; retail spending; equipment investment;

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Tame inflation result soothes RBA nerves

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Consumer Price Index Tame inflation: The Consumer Price Index – the main measure of inflation in Australia – rose by 0.6 per cent in the March quarter, below expectations for a

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Petrol prices head higher; Record bank shares

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Weekly petrol prices; Sharemarket trends Petrol prices lift: According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average Australian price of petrol rose by 6.3 cents per litre to 155.4

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Another positive month for economy-wide sales

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Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Index Economy-wide spending expanded for the 19th consecutive month in March according to a new survey. The Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Indicator (BSI) – a measure of

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RBA: Stable interest rates; labour market in focus

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RBA Board minutes Reserve Bank Board minutes: Board members continue to expect a period of stability in interest rates. Board members appeared to spend a lot of attention on the

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Petrol hits 4-month low; ATM use at an 11-year low

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Weekly petrol prices; Credit and debit card lending Petrol prices ease: According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average Australian price of petrol fell by 3.2 cents per

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Alcohol consumption hits 17-year low

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Alcohol consumption Total apparent consumption of alcohol fell for the sixth straight year, down from 10.04 litres of pure alcohol per person to a 17-year low of 9.88 litres per person

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Home prices record biggest gain in 18 years

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RP Data Rismark Home Prices; PMI Home prices surge: The RP Data – Rismark Home Value Index reported that capital city home prices rose by 2.3 per cent in March –

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Motorists benefit from higher $A, lower crude price

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Weekly petrol prices; Chinese “Flash” PMI Petrol prices fall for second straight week: According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average Australian price of unleaded petrol fell by

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Job market winners and losers

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Detailed labour market data Industry employment: Employment rose by 50,100 over the three months to February – the biggest quarterly increase in year. Employment rose in 12 of the 19 industry

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