Australia's NAB business confidence index edged down to 0 in February 2024 from 1 in January. Figures were below the long-run average, with the retail sector being a major drag amid high borrowing costs and elevated inflation. Meanwhile, business conditions rose, back above their average (10 vs 7 in January), as sales (14 vs 9) and profitability (9 vs 6) picked up while employment grew further (6 vs 5). Forward orders continued to ease (-3 vs -2), as did capacity utilization (83.4% vs 83.7%). Labor cost growth stayed at 2.0% in quarterly equivalent terms, while purchase cost growth was steady at 1.8%. Product price growth quickened to 1.3% from 1.1%, retail price growth rose to 1.4% from 0.9%, and recreation & personal services prices increased more (1.3% vs 1.1%). "These results are a good reminder that the progress on inflation to date has been driven by an improvement in global supply and from here, the improvement is unlikely to be linear,” said NAB's chief economist Alan Oster. source: National Australia Bank
Business Confidence in Australia decreased to 0 points in February from 1 points in January of 2024. Business Confidence in Australia averaged 5.07 points from 1997 until 2024, reaching an all time high of 23.00 points in October of 2021 and a record low of -68.00 points in March of 2020. This page provides - Australia Business Confidence - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. Australia Business Confidence - data, historical chart, forecasts and calendar of releases - was last updated on March of 2024.
Business Confidence in Australia decreased to 0 points in February from 1 points in January of 2024. Business Confidence in Australia is expected to be -3.00 points by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. In the long-term, the Australia Business Confidence is projected to trend around 5.00 points in 2025 and 4.00 points in 2026, according to our econometric models.