ONLY CHARTS
Edition #45
1. Average daily spending by Australians when travelling intra- or interstate has increased significantly since before the pandemic.
2. Markets currently expect more gradual monetary policy easing in Australia than elsewhere.
3. The weighted-average interest rate on outstanding mortgages in New Zealand edged higher in January. This will rise further as mortgages fixed at very low interest rates in recent years expire.
4. Around 30% of the value of outstanding mortgages in New Zealand in January were due to reset over the following 6 months.
5. The share of workers in Australia holding multiple jobs remained at a very high level in Q4 2023
6. Over 2023, the health care & social assistance and education & training industries accounted for more than two-thirds of jobs growth in Australia despite accounting for just 23% of total jobs.
7. The modest pick-up in Australia’s labour productivity growth in the second half of 2023 was because of both better outcomes within industries and relative shifts in hours worked across industries (e.g. hospitality hours worked fell sharply in Q4).
Is the first chart (tourist spending) in nominal dollars? Given the labour intensity in the tourism sector, plus shortages as we emerged from COVID, it is likely that the spending increase is a price factor rather than a shift in actual consumption patterns?