Cost of Living Indexes show employees doing best

Today’s Cost of Living Indexes for the second quarter show that it continues to be those in employment who are being impacted by “cost of living pressures” the least; perhaps just as well given the slow pace of wages growth although worth noting that wages growth in the first quarter …read more

Core inflation nudges higher

Despite the headline (seasonally adjusted) CPI data coming in a good deal lower than expected, the more significant (so far as potential RBA rate decisions is concerned) core inflation measures nudged very slightly higher in the June quarter. The headline CPI came in as +0.2% q/q for a +1.9% y/y …read more

Inflation edges higher…as expected. Tradables inflation at 3 year high.

In line with market expectations, the inflation data released by the ABS today shows CPI back within the RBA’s 2-3% target range. For the March quarter headline CPI rose by 0.5% for an annual increase of 2.1% (up from 1.5% in the previous quarter). The RBA’s preferred “core” measures of …read more

CPI nudges higher but core inflation falls

The ABS data for inflation in the third quarter shows the headline CPI number edged slightly higher by 0.7% q/q for a year on year increase of 1.3% (up from 1% in June). However, the two core inflation measures preferred by the RBA (trimmed mean and weighted median) were up …read more

Cost of Living Indexes fall again

After the release last week of the record low headline CPI numbers for Q2 (see here), and the RBA’s subsequent decision to cut rates by 25 bps yesterday, it comes as no surprise to see the quarterly Cost of Living Indexes confirming the lack of any inflationary pressure. The COL Indexes …read more

Gulf opening up between actual and expected inflation

Each month the Melbourne Institute release their Survey of Consumer Inflationary Expectations. This gives a good indicator where people believe inflation is heading. The chart below compares those expectations (on a quarterly basis) with the actual average core inflation data. What we see is that generally people’s expectations are, on …read more

One for the economics geeks: What’s the last 22 years of unemployment and inflation data in Australia tell us about NAIRU and the Phillips Curve?

Apologies to any others, but if you’re not a dyed in the wool economics tragic read no further. Back in uni days (over 30 years ago now) the old Phillips Curve theory was still being tossed around (although with modifications from the 1950’s original) and it’s always been something I’ve …read more

Benign inflation plot confirms room for a rate cut next week

The headline CPI inflation measure for the second quarter has been released in line with market expectations. CPI was up by 0.4% for the quarter and up just 1% over the course of the year (the lowest annual plot since the second quarter of 1999). The average of the two …read more

Cost of Living falls further still

After the release last week of the low CPI numbers, and the RBA’s subsequent decision to cut rates by 25 bps yesterday (see below), it comes as no surprise to see the quarterly Cost of Living Indexes confirming the lack of any inflationary pressure. The COL Indexes are designed to …read more

Surprise drop in inflation puts the spotlight back on possible rate cut

Today’s release of first quarter CPI has shocked the market with a reading much weaker than had been expected. Headline CPI fell by 0.2% q/q (against expectations of a 0.2-0.3% rise) for an annual rate of just 1.3% (expected around 1.7%). The more closely watched Trimmed Mean (+0.2% q/q, +1.7% …read more

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