Australia’s economy shines in a world of deepening gloom

As Alan Austin reports, the figures confirm that the Australian economy is responding to global conditions better than most.

THIS WEEK’S issue is 46.

Australia is now its own unemployed The rate has been below 4.6 percent for 46 months. This is the first time this has happened since 1946.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABSs), announced that total tax revenue in 2024-25 increased by $46 billion compared to last year. Coal export We increased the total export value of the year to 46 billion dollars with a strong figure of 5.7 billion dollars in September.

Voters clearly approve of all this good economic news; Opinion polls now show Labor potential customers Coalition 54 to 46.

Businesses expanding against global trends

Albanian The government has now added 1.16 million new jobs to ensure total employment employment It reached an all-time high of 14.64 million in September. See the table below.

(Data source: Trade Economics)

Since when has Australia kept its total jobs above 13 million? Also 46 months.

In fact, this is no surprise, as in normal times, with the natural growth of the population and economy, a new record should be seen every month. But these are not normal times. 38 rich people OECD Only 11 of the member countries are currently employment figures are at their maximum. Others have lost their jobs in recent months, some with catastrophic results. These include: EmbersUSA, ErdoganTürkiye and New Zealand are now under conservative rule.

New Zealand is now a mirror image of Australia; After May 2022, graphs showing increasingly worsening outcomes reversed following the election of Labour. Many economic consequences are strikingly evident in New Zealand worsened Since the National Party took office in November 2023. See the table below.

Australia’s employment participation has remained fairly stable over the last 30 months, moving within a very narrow range between 66.6% and 67.2%. IA. He argued that the optimum range was between 65% and 67%; because levels below this level indicate discouraged unemployed people leaving the workforce, while higher numbers indicate students or retirees returning to work due to poverty.
So, for how many months has work participation been above 65%? The answer is 46.

The number of workers working full-time or part-time who are required to work more hours is decreasing. The underemployment rate was 5.9% in September. This is down from 6.3% in September last year and well below the 9.1% level in September 2021 towards the end of the dismal Coalition years.

Prices are rising worldwide

Most of the 38 rich OECD economies are now coping with a surge inflation. The exceptions are Belgium, Finland, Israel, Poland and Switzerland, where prices are stable, and Costa Rica, which is currently experiencing deflation.

In the year to September, inflation rose from 1.8% to 4% in Austria, from 0.7% to 2.7% in Ireland, from 1.5% to 3% in Spain, and from 1.7% to 3.8% in the United Kingdom. The official rate in the US rose to 3.0% in September from 2.4% the previous year, although that figure is almost certain to be accurate. falsified.

of Australia increase from 2.81% to 3.24% that year was a relatively modest level – but enough to dash the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s hopes of another rate cut before Christmas.

Although Australia’s monthly headline inflation rate marked The average, which was reduced to 3.47% in September, remained at 2.8% within the optimum band of 2% to 3%. That makes ten months within the group, the longest streak since the monthly series began in 2018. In fact, in the entire 85 months since this series began, the trimmed average has only managed to sneak into that elusive range six times before the current ten-month series.

Living standards still rising

Numerous indicators confirm that the Coalition’s cost of living crisis is well behind us fees because the majority, like pensions and benefits, are increasing faster than inflation. How many indicators? Around 46.

Spending Eating out accounted for over 12.5% of all retail sales for the six months to September. This is a first. Spending on entertainment and culture has increased by over 17% in the last seven months; This is also a first.

Australians earned more than 8.4 million foreign trips until the end of August this year. This is 10.2% higher than last year (which was a record at the time) and 31.2% higher than the same period in 2023.

New automobile and light aircraft sales continue rapidly with 100,658 new vehicles delivered In October. This increased by 0.7% compared to the same month last year.

Australians imported Perfumes and cosmetics worth $1.07 billion in the September quarter set a new record, while other luxury imports, including works of art, wall clocks and gold coins, are also at or near record values.

public sector wages augmented Last week’s ABS figures show 7.6% in the year to June, slightly below annual growth of 8% in 2023-24. This reflects base pay growth driven by both new enterprise agreements and more jobs.

Whether the positive real wage increases since the third quarter of 2023 will continue from now on will be shown with the September quarter results in two weeks.

big picture

Global conditions are still negatively affected by regional conflicts, inflation fluctuations, an aging population, uncertain and generally low economic growth, and Trump’s destructive tariff policies.

As treasurer, it’s something many Australians still struggle with. Jim Chalmers continues to accept. But the data confirms that disadvantaged groups are proportionately smaller than ever and are not as poor as they were three years ago. The middle and upper middle are earning steadily financially, and the billionaires will somehow get by, although they may not be progressing as quickly as in the United States or other countries where governments primarily serve the wealthy.

So how many Monday columns do I have?A. Are you working with data that shows Australia’s economy has improved since the 2022 election? 63.