ECONOMIC INDICATORS – AUSTRALIA

Australian Inflation Expectations up to 4.3% in July

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Aug-17

Australians aged +14 expect inflation of 4.3% per year over the next two years, according to the Roy Morgan Inflation Expectations Index for July 2017. This is up 0.1% in a month, and inflation expectations are up 0.2% from a year ago in July 2016. However, despite the recent uptick, Australian inflation expectations remain well below average inflation expectations over the last seven years of 5.1%. Analysis by State shows that inflation expectations are highest in South Australia at 4.6%, closely followed by New South Wales and Victoria, both at 4.5%. Inflation expectations in Australia’s other States were below the national average: Queensland and Tasmania both at 4.1% and Western Australia at 3.5%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Nation ‘more equal than the 70s’

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale, David Uren
The Australian – Page: 2 : 3-Aug-17

The Melbourne Institute’s Roger Wilkins has disputed claims by Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten than inequality in Australia is at its highest level in 75 years. Professor Wilkins is the author of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) study, which found that average living standards across all income groups have increased since the annual survey began in 2001. He suggests that equality in Australia is now higher than it was four decades ago.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, GRATTAN INSTITUTE

Typical family earns less than 2009 income

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Original article by Peter Martin
The Age – Page: 10 : 2-Aug-17

Analysis of data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey shows that median real household disposable income was $A76,225 in 2015, compared with $A77,411 prior to the onset of the global financial crisis. The data also shows that the typical household income in Melbourne has increased by $A9,785 since the annual HILDA survey began in 2001, while typical household income in Sydney has risen by just $A5,182 over the last 15 years.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF SOCIAL SERVICES

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence surges to a 22 week high

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 2-Aug-17

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 2.9% to 118.4 in the week ended 30 July 2017, and now sits at its highest point since late February. Despite the jump in the headline index, the details were more mixed, with views towards economic conditions rising sharply but confidence in financial conditions easing a touch. Households’ views around current and future financial conditions slipped 1.2% and 0.9% respectively. Both sub-indices remain above or close to their long-term averages. Consumers’ views towards current economic conditions shot up 12.3%, bringing the sub-index to its highest point since September 2013. Views around future economic conditions rose 8.2%, following a 2.7% increase in the previous week.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Residential lending hits record levels

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Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 1-Aug-17

Reserve Bank of Australia figures show that there was a 7.4 per cent increase in mortgage loans to property investors in the year to June 2017. This compares with an increase of 6.2 per cent in loans to owner-occupiers. Overall, a record $A1.69 trillion worth of mortgages were active at the end of June. Martin North of Digital Finance Analytics said the figures suggest that regulatory attempts to cool the residential property market do not seem to have had any impact yet.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, DIGITAL FINANCE ANALYTICS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, ME BANK, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL, CANSTAR PTY LTD, MORTGAGE CHOICE LIMITED – ASX MOC, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Rising job insecurity myth busted

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 31-Jul-17

Analysis of labour market data survey suggests that despite unions’ claims to the contrary, job security in Australia seems to be improving. The analysis by the University of Melbourne’s Jeff Borland shows that the proportion of women in particular who have had the same job for more than 10 years has increased since 1982. Meanwhile, the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey data shows that the proportion of workers who are employed via labour hire firms fell from 3.1 per cent to 2.2 per cent between 2001 and 2015.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Retail property sentiment dips

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Original article by Elizabeth Redman
The Australian – Page: 23 : 28-Jul-17

National Australia Bank’s latest survey of the commercial property sector has revealed that sentiment is at its least optimistic in the retail property segment. Sentiment in that category is at its lowest since the end of 2014, in part due to the looming arrival of Amazon. Sentiment towards CBD hotels is also down, but sentiment in the office and industrial segments rose. Looking at individual states, sentiment has improved in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, but declined in New South Wales.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED

Second jobs growth steady, dispels fears

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 26-Jul-17

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the overall proportion of workers who have more than one job has remained steady at six per cent since 2010-11. Some 763,200 Australians had a second job in 2015-16, which is 3.7 per cent higher than the previous financial year and 9.2 per cent higher than in 2010-11. The figures are part of the ABS’s new "Labour Account" data, which aims to estimate the actual number of jobs across the economy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rises to 115.1 (up 2.3%)

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Jul-17

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 2.3% to 115.1 in the week ended 23 July 2017, following an 0.4% fall the previous week. The increase in confidence was driven primarily by an improvement in consumers’ views towards both current and future economic conditions. Households’ views around current financial conditions rose 1.8%, entirely reversing the prior week’s fall. Views towards future financial conditions were less positive, with the sub-index slipping 1.1%. Both sub-indices currently sit above their long-term averages. Consumers’ views towards current economic conditions increased a sharp 7.9%, bringing the sub-index to its highest point in 20 weeks. Views around future economic conditions rose 2.7%, more than offsetting the 1.6% decline in the previous week.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Fifth year of record advertising market growth

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 24-Jul-17

Australian advertising expenditure for 2016-17 is expected to slightly exceed the total of $A7.12bn for 2015-16, according to Standard Media Index. The outdoor advertising sector has recorded the biggest growth, with spending up 7.9 per cent to $A863.5m in 2016-17, while expenditure on programmatic digital advertising rose by 67.3 per cent to $A337.7m. Meanwhile, advertising expenditure by the retail sector increased by $A90.1m, while government spending on advertising was down $A92.2m.

CORPORATES
SMI MEDIA INCORPORATED, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD