ECONOMIC INDICATORS – AUSTRALIA

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence down 2.9pts to 77.0 after RBA raises interest rates for a tenth straight meeting

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-Mar-23

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 2.9pts to 77.0 in the week to 12 March; this is the lowest rating since early April 2020, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumer Confidence is now 18.8pts below the same week a year ago (95.8), and 5.7pts below the 2023 weekly average of 82.7. Consumer Confidence was down around the country this week and below 80 in all five mainland States after the RBA raised interest rates for a record tenth straight meeting. Now 19% of Australians (down 2ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 52% (up 4ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. Some 30% (down 2ppts) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 37% (up 2ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Only 6% (unchanged) of Australians now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 38% (also unchanged) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 19% (unchanged) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 53% (also unchanged) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Wage war on pay gap

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Original article by Ellen Ransley
Herald Sun – Page: 7 : 8-Mar-23

The Australia Institute has released the findings of research which concludes that the gender pay gap means that on average, women on median earnings will be $1.01m worse off over their working lives. The research, which has been released to coincide with International Women’s Day, also shows that women retire with $136,000 less in superannuation than male workers. Eliza Littleton from the Australia Institute’s Centre of Future Work says the gender pay gap costs women more than $3bn across the economy every week. Official data shows that the gender pay gap is currently about 13.3 per cent.

CORPORATES
THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE LIMITED. CENTRE FOR FUTURE WORK

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence at 79.9 – virtually unchanged for second straight week in early March

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Mar-23

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 79.9 in the week to 5 March. However, Consumer Confidence is 20.2pts below the same week a year ago (100.1), and 3.4pts below the 2023 weekly average of 83.3. Consumer Confidence had mixed results around the country; it was up in Queensland and South Australia, down in New South Wales and Western Australia and unchanged in Victoria. Now 21% of Australians (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 48% (unchanged) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. Some 32% (unchanged) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 35% (also unchanged) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Only 6% (down 1ppt) of Australians now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 38% (unchanged) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 19% (down 2ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 53% (up 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Australian full-time employment hit a record high above 8.9 million in February as unemployment falls 0.6% to 10.1%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Mar-23

The latest Roy Morgan employment series data shows that the number of Australians who are unemployed fell by 86,000 to 1.52 million (10.1% of the workforce) in February. Underemployment was down 59,000 to 1.37 million (9.1% of the workforce). A total of 2.89 million Australians (19.2% of the workforce) were unemployed or underemployed in February, down 145,000. Meanwhile, employment increased by 99,000 to 13,517,000 in February. The increase was driven by an increase in full-time employment, up 48,000 to a new record high of 8,949,000; part-time employment also increased, up 51,000 to 4,568,000. Roy Morgan’s under-employment figure of 9.1% is 3% points higher than the ABS estimate of 6.1% for January. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says that compared to a year ago, the increased immigration and faster population growth than during the pandemic is boosting figures across the workforce. The workforce has grown rapidly over the last year and is up 595,000 to 15,038,000 – driven by both an increase in jobs (up 301,000 to 13,517,000) and a similar-sized increased in unemployment (up 294,000 to 1,521,000).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Fall in house prices stalls but reprieve may be short-lived

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Original article by Rachel Clun, Shane Wright
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 1-Mar-23

Data from CoreLogic shows that home values fell by just 0.14 per cent nationwide in February, which is the lowest decline since the Reserve Bank of Australia began to increase the cash rate in May 2022. Sydney was the only capital city to record a rise in house values in February, up 0.3 per cent; however, house values fell by less than 0.5 per cent in all other capitals except Hobart, which recorded a decline of 1.4 per cent. Tim Lawless of CoreLogic warns that the decline in house values may accelerate as the full impact of nine consecutive interest rate rises takes effect.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence virtually unchanged at 80.0 in late February

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Mar-23

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 80.0 in the week to 26 February. However, Consumer Confidence is still 19.2pts below the same week a year ago (99.2) and 3.7pts below the 2023 weekly average of 83.7. Consumer Confidence was down in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia, but up slightly in New South Wales. Consumer Confidence is now below 80 in Victoria and Queensland. Now 22% of Australians (unchanged) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 48% (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. Some 32% (up 2ppts) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 35% (up 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Only 7% (up 1ppt) of Australians now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 38% (up 1ppt) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 21% (up 1ppt) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 52% (up 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Trade surplus hits $41b

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Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 1-Mar-23

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the nation’s trade surplus rose to $40.9bn in the December quarter. The value of goods exported rose by 1.9 per cent overall, while the value of iron ore and metals exports increased by 6.8 per cent and 16.6 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, the current account surplus rose to $14.1bn, up from just $753m in the previous quarter. The trade figures are tipped to add about 1.1 percentage points to GDP growth data for the December quarter, which will be released on Wednesday.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Inflation Expectations dropped 0.7% points to 5.3% in January 2023 – the largest monthly fall on record

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Feb-23

In January 2023, Australians expected inflation of 5.3% annually over the next two years, down 0.7% points from December 2022. This is the largest monthly fall on record for Inflation Expectations and the largest two-month fall (-1.2% points). The early indications in February are that the decline in Inflation Expectations seen in January 2023 has continued, with the latest weekly reading falling to only 5.1%. A look at Inflation Expectations on a State-based level shows that the decline in Inflation Expectations was nation-wide in January; Inflation Expectations are now highest in Victoria at 5.5% (down 0.4% points from a month ago), Queensland at 5.5% (down 0.8% points) and South Australia at 5.5% (down 0.9% points). Looking at the Country/City divide shows large falls for each with Inflation Expectations in Country Areas at 5.8% (down 0.8% points on a month ago), still far higher than in Capital Cities at 5.1% (down 0.6% points). The data for the Inflation Expectations series is drawn from the Roy Morgan Single Source which has interviewed an average of around 4,900 Australians aged 14+ per month over the last decade and includes interviews with 5,984 Australians aged 14+ in January 2023.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence recovers slightly, up 2.3pts to 80.4

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Feb-23

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose 2.3pts to 80.4 in the week to 19 February. However, Consumer Confidence is still 21.4pts below the same week a year ago (101.8) and 3.9pts below the 2023 weekly average of 84.3. Consumer Confidence was up in all five mainland States and above 80 in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia, but under 80 in New South Wales and Queensland. Now 22% of Australians (up 3ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 47% (down 2ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. Some 30% (down 1ppt) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 34% (down 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Only 6% (down 1ppt) of Australians now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 37% (down 4ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 20% (up 3ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 51% (down 3ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Roy Morgan Business Confidence jumps 10.4 points to 106.4 in January – highest since April 2022

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-Feb-23

In January 2023, Roy Morgan Business Confidence rose 10.4 points to 106.4, the largest jump to start a new year since the index began in 2010. The increase to Business Confidence in January came before the RBA’s decision to increase interest rates for a ninth consecutive meeting, to the highest level since mid-2012. However, Business Confidence is 6.3pts below the long-term average of 112.7. Now 49.3% (up 10.1ppts) of businesses expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next year, while 48.2% (down 10.5ppts) expect bad times’. Some 46.7% (down 0.6ppts) of businssses expect the business will be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 20.8% (down 2.5ppts) expect the business will be ‘worse off’. Meanwhile, 48.3% (up 8.7ppts) of businesses say the next 12 months will be a ‘good time to invest in growing the business’, while 43.7% (down 7.5ppts) said it will be a ‘bad time to invest in growing the business’.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED