Westpac is unmoved by the good jobs report. The December LFS clearly landed on the firmer side and the wash-up for the last few months suggests that the ‘gradual softening’ narrative, which characterised the bulk of last year, paused or completely halted. This leaves us with the question of whether further gradual softening is still
China’s population fell for the fourth straight year in 2025, dropping by about 3 million people, as the country recorded its lowest birthrate since 1949. Births fell to 5.63 per 1,000 people, the lowest since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949. Only 7.9 million babies were born in 2025, down sharply from 9.5
With the release of the most recent Newspoll revealing that support for the Coalition on primary vote has fallen behind One Nation and to its lowest level on record (i.e., 22% for One Nation vs 21% for the LNP), it’s worth exploring what demographics are shifting their vote behind Pauline Hanson. Using granular data from
In 2024, The Age reported the YIMBY (‘Yes In My Backyard’) manifesto as follows: “Key to the YIMBY manifesto is the idea that a restrictive planning system, including existing height and heritage controls, is blocking a potential deluge of apartment construction in inner and middle Melbourne that – if allowed – would force down prices
I noted yesterday that Australia’s East Coast is currently enjoying a flush of wholesale energy price relief, as a cool summer delivers cheaper, less frequently used gas-fired power to set the price for power. The result has been the cheapest quarter of wholesale power since Albo’s energy vandals won government in 2022. If we don’t
I reported earlier in the week on the massive rise in bridging visas, which has been driven by former international students. As illustrated above, the number of bridging visas on issue ballooned by 201,300 between Q3 2019 and Q3 2025. The Attorney-General’s department recently reported an “unprecedented surge” in appeals over student visa refusals, which
The ferrous jaws remain far too wide. Scuttlebutt is negatory. Australia’s Fortescue posted a 2% rise in second-quarter iron ore shipments, supported by the resilient performance of its Iron Bridge project alongside an uptick in output from its hematite operations. It maintained its forecast for fiscal 2025/26 shipments, with quarterly iron ore shipments remaining at
Via Judo Bank. Flash Australia Composite PMI Output Index: 55.5 (Dec: 51.0) Flash Australia Services PMI Business Activity Index: 56.0 (Dec: 51.1) Flash Australia Manufacturing PMI: 52.4 (Dec: 51.6) To cope with rising workloads, Australian firms hired additional staff at the start of the new year. That said, the overall rate of employment growth softened
Wall Street continued the TACO trade overnight led by tech stocks while a series of high inflation data in the US failed to get the USD moving higher with all undollars continuing the structural “off-America” risk trade with the Australian dollar making another new high. Gold surged again alongside silver while oil prices fellback and
DXY slumped post-Greenland deal. The Davos speech of the American madman was an obnoxious mess about “Iceland”. Hard to see how DXY can flourish as POTUS loses his mind. AUD had a multi-sigma day to remember after the strong jobs numbers. Without CNY help. But with gold’s help. No Greenland dump for gold. This is