Manufacturing contraction… again

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Performance of Manufacturing The Performance of Manufacturing index fell from 51.1 to 47.9 in March – marking the sixth contraction in the sector in the space of seven months Key

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House approvals slump to near 2-year lows

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Building Approvals; Trade; New Vehicle Sales The outlook for home builders is gloomy. Council approvals to build news homes slumped by 15.9 per cent in January. In annual terms approvals

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Economic expansion still stuck in second gear

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National accounts Australia’s record economic expansion is now well into the 20th year. The Australian economy grew by 0.7 per cent in the December quarter, after lifting by a downwardly

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Smaller retailers hit by consumer strike

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Retail trade; Performance of Manufacturing; BOP Retail spending grew by 0.4 per cent in January – in line with the Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Indicator which was released two weeks

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Investor Signposts: Week Beginning February 27 2011

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The big picture The role of a business economist is to educate, inform and occasionally entertain. But most people merely want business economists to explain what key issues mean in

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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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Floods: Weighing up the costs

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Economic impact of floods The east coast floods were caused by the La Niña weather event. La Niña will continue until at least March. El Niño and La Niña are

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State of the States

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

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Trade surplus to moderate as coal volumes fall

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International trade Australia’s trade surplus narrowed by $636 million to $1,925 million in November. Economists had tipped a surplus near $2 billion. Exports were flat over the month while imports

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Record slowdown in spending as job ads slump

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Retail trade; Job Advertisements; Weekly Petrol Price Retail spending rose by just 0.3 per cent in November after the 0.8 per cent slide in October. However Nonfood retailing rose by

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