See the world through the eyes of an economist.
Capitals march to their own drum
After marching in lockstep into and out of Covid, the capital city property markets are starting to do very different things. Perth is still growing strongly, while Melbourne is going backwards. What happens next? The capitals tend to move together, so which one is the bellwether?
Unemployment rate lifts with strong jobs growth
There was another tick up in the unemployment rate last week to 4.2%. That was despite a strong than expected increase in employment, so overall it’s a strong result. The employment to population ratio remains at record highs.
The rise in the unemployment rate still has us on track with the RBA’s forecasts.
Meanwhile, Seek Job Ads bounced off the bottom in July, but remain weakest of all the job ad indicators.
But they all suggest that unemployment should still move higher from here.
Interestingly, the job ads data is weakest in Victoria and the ACT. Is that connected to the property market’s fortunes?
Air fares are cheap (or reasonable) again!
Finally, after spiking in 2022, domestic airfares have returned to their pre-covid levels.
Internationally though, the picture is clouded by the no-fly zones over Russia, which apply to Western airlines, but not to Chinese ones. Going around Russia adds two and a half hours to an Asia to Europe flight.
And that’s how the world looked through the eyes of an economist this week.
DB.