Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand Activity Proxy (Jun.) The notable rise in our New Zealand Activity Proxy (NZAP) over the second quarter as a whole indicates that GDP growth may have accelerated from a disappointingly weak 0.5% q/q in the first quarter to... 21st August 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Where’s the cyclical rise in wage growth? If a cyclical rise in wage growth in Australia was underway, it would show up first in the strongest states and sectors. But wage growth hasn’t risen in New South Wales and Victoria. What’s more... 18th August 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Focus The new long-term inflation trend History may be turned on its head over the next decade with Australia and New Zealand experiencing lower inflation rates than some of their peers. It follows that their exchange rates may be weaker... 15th August 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Business bonanza? The surge in business confidence in Australia has made us a little more upbeat on the outlook for business investment. But with households showing some signs of struggling, a bit more investment won’t... 11th August 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - RBNZ to markets: Forget about rate hikes Graeme Wheeler didn’t go out with a bang at his last policy meeting as Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand as interest rates were left at 1.75% for the ninth month in a row. But he stressed... 10th August 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economic Outlook A new phase The Australian economy is entering a new phase where the drag on GDP growth from mining investment is coming to an end, but the boosts to growth from dwellings investment and consumption are starting... 7th August 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Monetary policy will become more boring The financial markets need to wake up to the fact that there is going to be fewer interest rate changes than in the past and more policy inertia. This is very much a global development, but the trend... 4th August 2017 · 1 min read
RBNZ Watch New Zealand - Markets slowly getting the “no rate hike” message The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will probably strike a dovish tone after leaving interest rates on hold at 1.75% at the policy meeting on Thursday 10th August, partly due to the softer economic news... 3rd August 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack Jobs growth switches from soft to soaring After a soft patch at the beginning of this year, jobs growth has soared in Australia in recent months. What’s more, of the net new 154,000 jobs that have been created since March all of them have... 31st July 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Is inflation really just 1.9%? Most people are right to believe that their inflation rate is not 1.9% as the official ABS data show. As different people spend different shares of their income on different items than the ABS assumes... 28th July 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand Activity Proxy (May) GDP growth was weaker than anticipated at the start of the year, but the pick-up in our New Zealand Activity Proxy (NZAP) in May is consistent with a bounce back in the second quarter. At this stage... 25th July 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Meteoric rise in the dollar will soon run out of fizz The recent rise in the Australian dollar to a two-and-a-half year high of just under US$0.80 has been meteoric. But while the dollar may orbit around that level for a bit, we don't think it will be... 21st July 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response New Zealand Consumer Prices (Q2) The weaker tone of the inflation data for the second quarter has already caused the New Zealand dollar to weaken back below US$0.73 and the dollar may yet fall below US$0.70 as the markets realise... 18th July 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly What’s driving the divergence in confidence? The gap between consumer and business confidence has widened further in recent months as rising profits have made firms increasingly optimistic while subdued wage growth has kept households... 14th July 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Household indebtedness weighs on the economic outlook The rising level of household debt in Australia presents a clear risk to the economic outlook and helps in part to explain why we expect the pace of consumer spending to slow this year. What’s more... 7th July 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Slow wage growth to persist despite strong job growth While the recent run of positive news on the health of the Australian labour market is certainly encouraging, it doesn’t alter the bigger picture that there is still plenty of spare capacity. This... 30th June 2017 · 1 min read