On Thursday Australia’s jobless rate rose to 3.8 per cent in March, which was broadly in line with the market’s expectations, and ahead of crucial March quarter inflation data due next Wednesday. The economy added 27,900 full-time roles and lost 34,500 part-time jobs in the month.
This very slight rise in the unemployment figure to 3.8 per cent last month showed February’s unexpected drop to 3.7 per cent was not an aberration after all. It’s further evidence of the continued strong state of the Australian labour market.
So, forget rate cuts for now, as this can only make it harder for the Reserve Bank to consider any start to rate cuts in the foreseeable future. Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock’s mantra is that the path of interest rates will depend on the data. And this is one more data point indicating the resilience of the economy. Actually, despite record immigration, the employment-to-population ratio fell marginally in the month but is still at close to the historically high levels of last year.
This continues what I think is a really wonky series on employment, as I have discussed before. As in many economies, thanks to sample issues, and definitional issues they are hard to read. Indeed, Australia’s labor market report is a volatile series and both economists and policymakers tend to look through month-to-month fluctuations. So, Thursday’s data was widely anticipated following holiday season-affected readings since December. The ABS noted that employment flows have now returned “to a more usual pattern” after recent instability. The incoming and outgoing samples this time around were certainly a little less volatile. But I still take the results with a truck load of salt!
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More Data Pushing Rate Cuts Out, as Labour Markets Hold Up (Again)!
In an increasingly globalized workforce — which intensified in the wake of Covid-19 as nations looked to fill acute worker shortages — New Zealand is a desirable destination. It was ranked the most attractive nation in the OECD for skilled migrants, according to a 2023 report by the Paris-based organization, which rated the country highly in categories such future prospects, family environment and inclusiveness.
But the volume of arrivals is now raising concerns about pressure on infrastructure, rising house prices and the ability of the economy to meet the extra demand for goods and services. That could in turn fan inflation, compounding the strains.
“Very strong population pressures will continue to stress the economy,” said Kelly Eckhold, chief New Zealand economist at Westpac in Auckland.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has picked up on the trend, citing the impacts of high immigration on house prices and rents. That may see it hold its benchmark rate at 5.5% until the end of this year or into 2025, even if global peers begin to lower theirs, though even that is less certain now.
And as we look are Ireland, the UK and Australia, its the same story. High migration lifts housing costs and drives inflation. Time for politicians to flex their strategies, as New Zealand and Canada have already done!
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US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has confirmed fears that interest rate cuts in the US would be later rather than sooner as inflation remains stubbornly high. If that price pressure persists, the Fed can keep rates steady for “as long as needed,” Powell said. This came after US retail sales figures for March came in much stronger than expected, stoking speculation rates would stay higher for longer.
This is a theme reinforced by the IMF, who published a report, while data form the UK and New Zealand also reconfirmed the stickier story.
The risks to markets and households are rising.
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This is an edited version of my latest live discussion, with Leith van Onselen, Chief Economist at Nucleus Wealth, and Co-Founder of Macrobusiness.
We will dive into the latest in property, economics and politics, to try and make sense of what is happening. What’s the future trajectory of the markets? How will Albo’s announcables play in? What will happen to migration? And can we learn from what is happening in New Zealand?
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Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) Blog
DFA Live Q&A Replay: Inside The Property Twilight Zone! With Leith van Onselen…
Another deep dive into property and politics with our Property Insider Edwin Almeida, as we look at the latest spin on affordability and “hot suburbs”.
The drive towards high-rise density has consequences, but even the quality of low-rise is a concern. Meantime, listings are still in the doldrums, while rental availability is largely shot.
And recent DFA coverage stirred up the Chatterers….
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The ABS released data on the total number of dwellings approved in February recently. They say that despite growth in private houses in the month, the total number of dwellings approved fell 1.9 per cent in February (seasonally adjusted), after a 2.5 per cent fall in January. The trend estimate for total dwellings approved fell 3.0%, following a 2.7% January decrease. Specifically, approvals for private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 24.9 per cent in February in seasonally adjusted terms, driven by a fall in the number of approved large apartment projects. In contrast, approvals for private houses rose 10.7 per cent in February.
This continues to confirm the massive gap between the Government aspiration of 1.2 million new homes over the next 5 years. On a straight-line basis, this translates to a target of 240,000 each year – which by the way is still way under the number needed to house the surging migrants and fill existing shortfalls.
So why not tackle the root cause issue here, too high migration? Entrepreneur Dick Smith fears today’s young people will have no savings and be forced to live in Chinese-style high-rise apartments unless immigration is urgently slashed, according to an article in the Daily Mail.
The veteran businessman and philanthropist says they need to understand the connection between a surging population and climate change. The entrepreneur, who turned 80 last month, fears homes with a backyard in Australia’s capital cities will no longer exist by 2050.
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Government Housing Targets An Impossible Dream As Building Approvals Shrink!
This week will I think mark a critical turning point across markets, as the higher for longer mantra finally took root on sticky inflation fears, geo-political tensions flared and the first flush of 1Q US results highlighted pressures on earnings ahead. All this drove a flight to the safest corners of the market such as bonds and the dollar while equities fell. Oil rallied but Wall Street’s “fear gauge” – the VIX – spiked to levels last seen in October with a surge of 16 per cent.
It’s hard to unpick the prime reasons for the falls, but US Equities had their worst day since January. The report that Israel was bracing for an attack by Iran on government targets certainly did not help. US President Joe Biden said he expects Iran will attack Israel sooner rather than later – and his message to Iran is “don’t” do it. A direct confrontation between Israel and Iran would mean a significant escalation of the Middle East conflict and would lead to a significant rise in oil prices, according to Commerzbank.
Escalating geopolitical tensions, also including attacks on Russian energy infrastructure by Ukraine, have spurred bullish activity in the oil options market. There’s been elevated buying of call options – which profit when prices rise – in recent days, with implied volatility jumping.
Also, Investors have pushed back their expectations for the start of the Fed’s easing cycle as March nonfarm payrolls crushed expectations and US inflation climbed to 3.5%, up from 3.2% and above the forecast of 3.4%. The markets have lowered the odds of a June cut to just 24%, compared to 54% a week ago. A September cut was priced in at 91% a week ago but that has dropped to 72%, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
Fed members are sounding hawkish and the markets have slashed rate cut expectations. Fed Bank of Boston President Susan Collins reiterated she sees no urgency to cut rates in the near term, given elevated inflation and the resilience of the labor market. Her Chicago counterpart Austan Goolsbee repeated that housing inflation will need to come down in order for overall prices to cool to the central bank’s target.
Meantime banks’ results offered the latest window into how the US economy is faring amid an interest-rate trajectory muddied by persistent inflation as JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo both reported net interest income that missed estimates amid increasing funding costs. Citigroup’s profit topped forecasts as corporations tapped markets for financing and consumers leaned on credit cards – signs that a prolonged period of elevated interest rates will benefit large lenders.
“Many economic indicators continue to be favourable. However, looking ahead, we remain alert to a number of significant uncertain forces,” JPMorgan’s chief executive Jamie Dimon said. He cited the wars, growing geopolitical tensions, persistent inflationary pressures and the effects of quantitative tightening.
And the latest economic data did little to alter the reduced risk. The Michigan consumer sentiment index fell to 77.9 in April from 79.4 a month earlier, missing forecasts of 79.0 and the data also showed that the 1-year inflation expectations and 5-year expectations rose to 3.1% and 3% respectively, piling on worries about higher for longer interest rates.
So all up, MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe was last down 1.2%, its biggest one-day drop in about six months, dragged down by U.S. performance. Wall Street’s main indexes all slumped well over 1% with the S&P 500 posting its biggest one-day drop since Jan. 31. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.24%, to 37,983.24, the S&P 500 lost 1.46%, to 5,123.41 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.62%, to 16,175.09.
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Our latest Friday Afternoon chat with journalist Tarric Brooker as we look at the current data, which questions potential rate cuts, and housing trends, as demand stays strong while supply is limited.
Below the water line we examine some of the underlying assumptions behind the numbers, and how politics have changed.
Worse, the structural issues can be traced back to a series of political decisions, which were policy errors – when will they come clean?
Tarric’s charts are here: https://avidcom.substack.com/p/dfa-chart-pack-12th-april-2024 if you want to follow along.
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Domain has released its Rental Report for March, which delivered more bad news for tenants, on top of the data I released recently which showed three quarters of those renting already have cash-flow issues. Younger families and first-generation Australians are being hit really hard, but as I discussed in my live show, other household categories are also being caught in the rental squeeze. And despite the rise in rents, some investors are selling due to poor net returns.
With net overseas migration forecast to remain historically high, albeit lower than last year, Australia’s rental crisis will continue, even if vacancy rates and rental inflation ease a little.
As a result, more Australians will be plunged into rental stress, group housing, or homelessness.
The solution is to cut net overseas migration hard to a level well below the nation’s capacity to build homes and infrastructure.
The other factor no one is talking about is that renters under extreme pressure are being coerced into buying property, even if its poor quality or in the wrong area, just to exit the rental sector and try to get some control. With borrowing power down about 40-50%, these households are leveraging up, as see by the larger loan balances against income. But this could be an issue of jumping from the frying pan into the fire!
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Tenants Caught In The Python-Like Property Squeeze Have To Pay More!
Higher for longer is back baby, following the latest CPI data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics which came out today, for March. It was significantly up on expectations, the third month in a row this has occurred. This signals a fresh wave of price pressures that will likely delay any Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts until later in the year, or even later into next year.
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