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Showing 81 - 90 of 435 results for "consumer sentiment"

Wage freeze

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 17 AUG 2017
... September, December and March. This was also evident in the result of the latest Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment survey - down to 95.5 in August from 96.6 in July. This is the ninth straight month where pessimists outnumbered optimists ...

Fed gets green light

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 16 AUG 2017
... lift in retail spending has already been telegraphed by the sharp increase in the Department of Commerce's consumer sentiment index - up to 121.1 in July from 117.3 in June. More encouraging was the rise in the consumer expectations index to 103.3 from ...

Wages separate businesses from consumers

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 10 AUG 2017
... Jan! This is the collective cry of Australian consumers according to the latest Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment survey. Yet only a day before, the NAB business survey showed that business conditions in July were at their best levels since ...

Is the Fed the victim of its own success?

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 17 JUL 2017
... inflation expectations. Why spend now when prices aren't rising (even softening) anyway? The Conference Board's consumer sentiment survey showed that "12 months ahead" inflation expectations fell to a reading of 4.6% in June from 4.7% in the previous ...

Business conditions return to pre-GFC levels

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 12 JUL 2017
... 189% -- and weak consumer confidence, underscored by the just-released Westpac-Melbourne Institute index of consumer sentiment. While consumer confidence improved to 96.6 in July from 96.2 in June, it remained at levels where pessimists are much more ...

Not so happy EOFY for the All Ords

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 3 JUL 2017
... business sentiment and conditions and the jobless rate dropping to its lowest level in 54 months to 5.5% in May, consumer sentiment has been steadily falling - down to 96.2 in May for its third straight month of decline. Unconfident consumers are not ...

Confidence: the business/household divide

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 14 JUN 2017
... growth subdued and consumers cautious with their spending." Here, the lead from the Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment survey is not encouraging. Australian consumer sentiment fell by 1.2 points to a reading of 96.2 in June from 98.0 in the ...

US labour market covfefe

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 5 JUN 2017
... average of 166,000. For sure and for certain weakening employment growth would have negative implications for consumer sentiment and consumer spending. Latest data showed that US core retail sales growth slowed to 4.5% in the year to April, the third ...

A one-handed clap for ScoMo's Budget

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 23 MAY 2017
... time jobs; full-time employment declined by 11,600 over the month. This presents a negative indication for consumer sentiment and consumer spending. As the "permanent income hypothesis" states, consumer spending depends on workers' expectations of the ...

Three steps and yields stumble

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 15 MAY 2017
... balance disappointed market expectations - helped bring long yields lower. While the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index rose to its best level since January this year 97.7 in May from 97.0 in the previous month and beat market expectations ...