Switzer Daily 19 January 2021 Australian economic data was strong, with a rise in the ABS’ measure of job vacancies for November to above their pre-Covid level consistent with an ongoing recovery in employment, housing finance surging to a new record high consistent with an ongoing recovery in house prices and retail sales confirmed at up 7% in November. Of course, this is all before the latest Covid scare and resultant mini-lockdowns in late December/January but so far these don’t appear to have dramatically impacted economic activity based on our Economic Activity Tracker as consumer confidence has held up reasonably well and growth in credit and debit card transactions