Inflation contained; Term deposits at decade low

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Inflation gauge; Private sector credit; Overseas economic data Inflation contained: The TD Securities/Melbourne Institute monthly inflation gauge rose by 0.2 per cent in September to stand 2.1 per cent higher than

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Job losses, longer hours; but better times ahead

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Labour force Jobs & jobless rate: Employment fell by 10,800 in August after falling by a revised to 11,400 jobs in July (previously reported as a 10,200 loss in jobs). The

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Still no joy for retailers; Record foreign debt

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Retail Trade; Balance of Payments; Government Finance Retail trade rose by just 0.1 per cent in July after a flat result in June. Annual spending growth rose from 1.1 per cent

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Super low rates entice borrowers

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Private sector credit Private sector credit (loans outstanding) rose by 0.4 per cent in July. Credit stands 3.2 per cent higher than a year ago. What do the figures show? Private

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Petrol price slides, but Middle East the key

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Petrol prices Petrol prices: According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average Australian price of unleaded petrol fell by 4.5 cents a litre to 149.2 c/l in the week

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Rich Australia

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Household wealth The Bureau of Statistics has released the report “Household Wealth and Wealth Distribution 2011/12”. Average wealth. Wealth (assets less liabilities) of the ‘average’ Australian household stood at just

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PEFO non-event; Businesses still gloomy

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Pre-Election Economic & Fiscal Outlook; NAB business survey No change: It was almost certain that the Pre-Election Economic & Fiscal Outlook (PEFO) figures were going to be the same as those

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Lending lifts to 5-year high; Petrol price slides

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Petrol prices; Lending Finance; Credit & debit card lending Petrol prices: According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average Australian price of unleaded petrol fell by 2.3 cents

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More home loans, but no boom in sight

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Housing finance Home loans on the rise: The number of new owner-occupier housing loans rose by 2.7 per cent in June – the sixth straight increase. Over the first six months

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Reserve Bank ponders next move

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Reserve Bank Board meeting The Reserve Bank Board has cut the official cash rate by 25 basis points or a quarter of a per cent to 2.50 per cent. It

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