Australian households are bearing the brunt of the central bank’s determination to stuff the inflation genie back into its bottle, but not so much that business is suffering.
Companies—particularly those in the manufacturing, accommodation and food, financial and insurance services, and professional service sectors—are bringing home the bacon on the back of robust trading conditions.
Gross company operating profit soared by 16 percent in the 2022 calendar year as wages and salaries—including manager payouts—grew by 11.6 percent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) business indicators data for the December quarter.
Yet consumer confidence is down as the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) continues to pound out monthly interest rate rises….