Australian Industry Group August Performance of Services Index at 55.6
- prior was 54.1
3rs consecutive month of expansion
Up 1.5 points on the month to its highest since March of 2008
Two days ago we got the Australian manufacturing PMI extending its expansion into the second month
Industry surveys (like these) and business confidence are not painting nearly as beak a picture of the Australian economy as official indicators (such as yesterday's Q2 GDP) are. GDP data is often stale by the time we get it ... the more timely surveys are more positive. Lets hope it translates into economic growth at a faster pace.
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Via AiG ... 'Key Findings' (in brief):
- Recent results suggest growth in Australian demand for goods and services (measured by the ABS in the National Accounts as 'domestic final demand') has improved through the third quarter of 2015
- Three of the five activity sub-indexes expanded in August. Sales and new orders grew for a third month, while employment rose for a second month in August. Supplier deliveries were stable this month but services businesses reduced their stock levels after a brief expansion in July.
- Five of the nine services sub-sectors grew in August.
- Respondents attributed the recent improvement in trading conditions to stronger housing market activity, low interest rates and the lower Australian dollar
- However, weak business and public investment, unsteady business and consumer confidence, coupled with weak household income growth are still weighing on local household spending and on demand from businesses for a range of business services
AUD is little changed ... this data point is not usually much of an immediate FX market mover
