Q1 real retail sales fall 0.5% vs -0.4% consensus NAB business conditions jump 8 points to +32 Both business conditions, confidence at record highs Still, data shows little signs of inflation in the economy (Adds retail sales data, bullets, analyst comments)
SYDNEY, May 10 (Reuters) - Australian retailers boasted yet another month of solid sales in March while a measure of business conditions surged to all-time highs in April in a sign the economy was coping well with the end of a government support programme for jobs.
Australian retail turnover climbed 1.3% in March from a 1.4% rise in February, largely led by sales at cafes and restaurants hitting a record high, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed on Monday.
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JOINT STATEMENT
The Palaszczuk Government has today unveiled a list of vital funding measures that Queenslanders need to see in Tuesday night’s Federal Budget.
“Thanks to the way Queenslanders have responded to this health crisis, we’re able to focus our attention more intently on rebuilding our economy,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.
“We have a great opportunity to build back better here in Queensland. But that won’t be achievable without significant investment from the Federal Government.
“The Prime Minister has spoken publicly about borrowing to build. That’s what we’re doing at a state level and that’s what we want to see in Tuesday’s Federal Budget – more federal funding for Queensland projects.
Mortgage Business
Lending restrictions have led to rental undersupply: PIPA By Annie Kane 10 May 2021
Restrictions that were brought in to curb investor lending in 2017 have led to a “critical undersupply” of rental properties in capital cities, according to the group.
The chairman of the Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA) has suggested that rental market vacancies, particularly in smaller capital cities, are near all-time lows as a result of historic lending curbs, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
PIPA chairman Peter Koulizos stated that a number of capital cities (excluding Sydney and Melbourne), as well as regional locations, currently had vacancy rates of less than 1 per cent – noting that this is well below what is considered to be “balanced” vacancy rates (3 per cent).
Australians want to meet their life partner at 31, get married at 33 and have kids at 34, according to numbers collected by dating website eharmony.
The numbers suggest Aussies see their 20s as a time for adventure and flings, leaving such serious matters as engagement, buying a property and walking down the aisle till the next decade.
Nearly half - 45 per cent - of the more than 2000 Australians surveyed by eharmony believe marriage is less important than it was for previous generations.
Millennials are also in less of a hurry to have kids. The average age they say they want to start a family is 37.