ONLY CHARTS #274

Aus monthly CPI, Aus Q4 construction, NZ Activity Index

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1. Australia’s monthly CPI declined 0.24% m/m in January and remained at +2.5% on a year-ended basis.

The monthly CPI is seasonally weak in January, dragged down by travel prices which fell 5.9% m/m. In contrast, electricity prices rose +8.9% m/m as Queensland households continued to work through their (large) government rebates. The CPI rose +0.56% m/m in seasonally adjusted terms.

Note that the ABS updated the CPI weights for the January CPI.

2. Australia’s year-ended trimmed mean inflation rose +0.1ppts to +2.8% y/y in January.

The year-ended trimmed mean inflation measure is a different beast to the measure based on trimmed quarterly inflation data.

Nonetheless, the January trimmed mean outcome is broadly in line with the RBA’s February SMP forecast.