Petrol prices limp, not leap, higher

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Weekly petrol prices Petrol prices are limping, not leaping higher. According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average Australian price of unleaded petrol rose by just 0.2 cents

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House approvals remain at 18 month lows

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Building Approvals; Trade; New Vehicle Sales; PSI Approvals to build news homes rose by 8.7 per cent in December. However all the gains were centred on apartment approvals – which

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Food prices fall; Housing remains depressed

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New Home Sales; Average Retail Prices A raft of supermarket items fell in price over the past three months. On average almost half of regularly surveyed grocery items were cheaper

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Floods take toll on corporate Australia

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NAB Business Survey; PMI The NAB business confidence index fell from +6.2 to -2.7 in December – the weakest reading in 20 months. The business conditions index rose from +3.7

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Petrol pain; Tame business inflation

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Producer price index; Weekly petrol price The broad measure of business inflation – the producer price index (PPI) – rose by just 0.1 per cent in the December quarter, well

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Consumer bonanza as import prices fall

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Import & export prices Prices of imported goods slumped by 3.8 per cent in the December quarter, driven largely by the appreciation of the Australian dollar. Import prices are 1.0

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China: Robust growth and inflation moderates

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Chinese economic data Chinese economic activity picked up pace in the last three months of the year. The Chinese economy grew at a 9.8 per cent annual rate in the

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Floods disaster dents confidence

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Consumer sentiment The Westpac/Melbourne Institute index of consumer confidence fell sharply in the latest month as the flood disaster in Queensland impacted sentiment. The index fell by 5.7 per cent

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Tame inflation; Petrol pain ahead

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Weekly Petrol Price, Inflation gauge; Lending finance; New car sales Motorists need to prepare for higher petrol prices. The terminal gate or wholesale price of petrol leapt by over 2

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Employment slows: A case of lies, damned lies and statistics?

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Labour force Employment rose by just 2,300 people in December, well below forecasts centred on job gains of around 25,000 (range from +10,000 to +40,000 jobs). The November result was

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