1. Australia’s labour force data for February will be published tomorrow and the consensus of market economists is that Australia’s unemployment rate dipped slightly to 4%. This is predicated on some ‘payback’ following the weak January report.
The internet job vacancy index out today for February, however, points to a risk that the jobless rate rose further in the month.
2. Canadian inflation in February was much lower than expected on a headline and core basis. Monthly trimmed mean and weighted median inflation was again just +0.1% m/m.
3. On a 3-month-ended basis, those measures of Canadian core inflation are not far off the 2% target.
4. Trimmed mean inflation has recently taken different paths in Canada and the United States.
5. Services inflation in Canada has also recently slowed noticeably and is in contrast to the pick-up in the United States.
6. Consumer confidence in New Zealand improved in Q1 but remained well below average, as it does in most regions around the world.
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