Blogotariat

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released housing approvals data for September, which recorded 16,360 trend approvals, a 0.9% increase from August. It was the strongest trend monthly approvals since February 2022. Even so, approvals in September were 3,640 (18%) behind the National Housing Accord’s five-year target of building 20,000 homes per month. In the

..... an awkward introduction in Kyiv where Ambassador Whitaker (U.S. ambassador to NATO) and European leaders meet. Whitaker frames the U.S. role as selling weapons to NATO allies — who then supply them to Ukraine — under a “we won’t give things away, we’ll sell them” policy (the “PURL” initiative). He mentions roughly $2.5 billion in expected sales/packages.

The surge in solar-battery hybrid projects continues, with a new proposal seeking a federal green tick for development in NSW.

On Monday, the charity Oxfam published a report on the growth of social inequality in the United States, titled “Unequal: The Rise of a New American Oligarchy.”

Not much action on Asian markets in today’s session with local markets pivoting on the RBA meeting where as expected the boffins of Martin Place held fire again and put out most chances of further rate cuts in the future. This stabilised the Australian dollar somewhat, in comparison to other undollars which are seeing some

The post Macro Afternoon appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Following last week’s CPI inflation shocker, financial markets abandoned hopes of further rate cuts. As expected, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) chose to hold the official cash rate steady at 3.60%, with its commentary turning hawkish. The Bank’s statement noted that “inflation has picked up”, with the 1.0% trimmed mean inflation print of 1.0%

The post RBA flags one more rate cut appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Solar Sharer is a clever idea from Labor. But it also poses some risks and challenges – and will mean little if it ends up with higher charges elsewhere.

Last week, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported that the policy-relevant trimmed mean inflation surged by 1.0% in the September quarter to be 3.0% higher year-on-year—the top of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) target band. Inflation pressures were broad-based, with the share of CPI items growing above 3% rising to 50% in Q3, up

The post More bad news for Aussie inflation appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Free electricity for three hours a day! What's not to love? But energy experts say it should be a base for a bigger push into electrification and demand flexibility.

Alan Kohler is one of the few ABC journalists willing to openly and honestly discuss Australia’s immigration system, which is the fundamental driver of the nation’s world-beating population growth. The following video presentation by Kohler explained how the surge in international students in Australia is one of the key drivers of the nation’s high immigration-driven

The post Alan Kohler busts migration myths appeared first on MacroBusiness.

I spend a lot of time asking one simple question: Can earnings keep doing the heavy lifting? Valuations are stretched at the top end of the market, and the AI investment cycle is still in full flight. Yet, for all the worry, the income statement remains surprisingly resilient. So far, the reporting season has two

The post 3Q Reporting season in full swing appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Australia’s official unemployment rate was 4.5% in September, the highest reading since November 2021 and significantly above the Reserve Bank’s forecast contained in its August Statement of Monetary Policy. I have argued repeatedly that Australia’s labour market has been artificially propped up by the unprecedented boom in non-market sector jobs, funded by the taxpayer. Australia’s