Building approvals at record highs

From

Dwelling approvals; Balance of Payments; Government Finance Dwelling approvals soar: Dwelling approvals rose by 6.8 per cent in January. Approvals are up 34.6 per cent over the year. Approvals rose to

continue reading

Slowest wage growth on record

From

Wage price index Wages rose by 0.7 per cent in the December quarter. Annual growth of wages eased from 2.7 per cent to a record low of 2.6 per cent (series

continue reading

Benign Chinese inflation placates investors

From

Chinese inflation data Chinese annual inflation: Producer prices fell by 1.6 per cent in the year to January (median forecast was for 1.7 per cent decline). Consumer prices rose by 2.5

continue reading

Job losses but grounds for optimism

From

Labour force Jobs down: Employment fell by 3,700 in January after a revised 23,000 loss in jobs in December (previously reported as a 22,600 decrease in jobs). Full-time jobs fell by

continue reading

Home loans hit record highs

From

Housing finance; NAB Business survey Record home loans: The value of all home loans rose by 0.2 per cent to record highs in December. The number of new owner-occupier housing loans fell

continue reading

How & where we spent in 2013

From

Consumer spending perspective Retail trade in 2013: Over 2013 as a whole, Australians spent $264.2 billion at retail outlets. Spending was up 3.2 per cent over 2012 – the strongest calendar-year

continue reading

CBA Economics: Rising retail trade momentum is positive for household spending growth

From

Retail Trade – December 2013 Retail trade rose by 0.5% in December to be 5.7% higher over the year. Retail prices are picking up, rising by 1.1% over QIV.  It

continue reading

Number of margin lending approved stocks creeping closer to pre-GFC levels

From

Post-GFC, margin loans have been out of favour with many investors. From a peak of 248,000 margin lending client accounts in December 2007, the most recent Reserve Bank of Australia

continue reading

Home prices surge; Manufacturing contracts

From

RP Data Rismark Home Prices; Manufacturing gauge; TD Inflation Gauge Home prices rose for the eighth consecutive month: The RP Data – Rismark Home Value Index reported that capital city home

continue reading

Business conditions near 3-year highs

From

NAB Business survey; Weekly petrol prices Petrol prices ease: According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average Australian price of unleaded petrol fell by 1.0 cent per litre

continue reading