Migrant numbers hit 4yr low despite tight job market

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Latest economic indicators The job market is tight but permanent settler numbers have plunged. Net permanent and long-term arrivals to Australia hit 4-year lows in the year to October. In

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Depressed services sector; 4WD sales soar

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Latest economic data The services sector is going backwards. The Performance of Services index fell from 50.7 to 46.2 in November. Any reading below 50 suggests that the services sector

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Threadneedle’s outlook and investment themes for 2011

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Reasonable global growth led by emerging economies, but markets remain fragile and shocks will trigger volatility Mark Burgess, incoming Chief Investment Officer at Threadneedle, looks ahead to 2011: “Our central

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Weekly market & economic update – 03 December 2010

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Headline developments of the past week Better than expected economic data in the US, Europe and China along with the European Central Bank moving to extend its liquidity boosting measures

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Spending slumps; Trade surplus with China soars

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Retail trade, International trade Retail spending slumped by 1.1 per cent in October, below forecasts centred on a rise of 0.4 per cent. Nonfood retailing fell by a much larger

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Investor Signposts Week Beginning December 5 2010

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The big picture Most people tend to regard the national accounts as just an update on economic growth. But the publication is far more comprehensive than that, covering indicators such

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Record economic expansion moves into 20th year

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National accounts The current economic expansion began in the September quarter of 1991. The 19th year of the expansion was completed in the June quarter 2010 and the 20th year

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Global markets unlikely to recover to historical norms: hedged global bonds offer great value says PIMCO

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PIMCO has challenged conventional mean reversion assumptions due to deleveraging of private sector balance sheets, re-regulation, and slower growth coming from large developed nations Much of the developed world is

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Puritan Australia? Alcohol and gambling shunned

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Consumer spending trends Aussie consumers are making fewer trips in the car but travelling more on planes and trains. And while we are spending more on little luxuries like shoes,

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Dwelling approvals rebound, Credit sluggish

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Latest economic data New dwelling approvals rose for the first time in seven months – up 9.3 per cent in October. The RP Data-Rismark Hedonic Australian Home Value Index –

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