National Australia Bank Business Survey May 2024
Business confidence -3
- Previously reviewed to 2
Working conditions 6
- Before 7
- Conditions tend to be a more objective measure than confidence (feelings).
ugly.
Inflation indicators are not encouraging:
- Quarterly growth in retail prices jumped to 1.6% from 1.0%
- Increase in labor costs and purchasing costs reaching 2.3% and 1.9% from 1.5% and 1.3% previously.
Knapp comments:
- “Overall, the message here is a mixed one for the RBA
- There are warning signs on the growth outlook but at the same time there are reasons to be very cautious on the inflation outlook, and we expect the RBA to hold interest rates steady for some time yet as it deals with these contrarian risks.
- We have been wary for some time that the path of inflation from here is likely to be gradual and uneven, and the survey results really reinforce that message.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.