Australia's labour market showed ongoing signs of distress in June as employers continued sharply scaling back job advertising, but the slowdown is yet to translate into concerted job shedding. Employers instead appear to be finding ways to retain staff, hopeful that an upturn in the economy, which has so far avoided technical recession, isn't far off.
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Australian retail sales ran hot in May as government fiscal stimulus and interest rate cuts to offset the global financial crisis continued to wash through store checkouts. But building approvals hit a wall in May, a likely reflection of rising concern about unemployment over the medium term, economists said.
Retail sales rose 1.0% in May from April to a seasonally adjusted $19.55bn, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. It added to a 2.2% rise in March and a 0.3% rise in April.
The Australian sharemarket had its fourth consecutive month of gains in June.
The All Ordinaries Index closed the month 3.5% higher at 3,947.8 points. In June, investors returned to the sharemarket on growing belief that the global economy is slowly rebounding.
Global shares continued their upward trend in June, consistent with the Australian sharemarket.
30 June represented the close of the Australian financial year. The past year will be remembered for the Global Financial Crisis and near collapse of the global financial system.
Australian consumer sentiment surged in June on the back of news the economy is holding up better than expected, while housing finance commitments rose for a seventh consecutive month in April, buoyed by historically low interest rates and government support for new home buyers.
The upward trend continued for the Australian sharemarket during May.
The All Ordinaries Index closed the month 1.8% higher at 3,813.3 points. The market was up more than 4.5%, before retracing during the second half of the month.
Global shares continued with its recent rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded it biggest three-month gain since November 1998.
The Federal Government delivered one of the most eagerly anticipated Budgets last night.
Given the magnitude of the Budget deficit, the Government did an exceptional job of managing the media and warning the public about the bad news in the weeks leading up to Budget night.
As is always the case with the Budget, everything is just a proposal until legislated.
From our perspective the key issues coming from the Budget include:
Australia's unemployment rate fell sharply and unexpectedly in April signalling concerted economic policy stimulus over recent months may have garnered early and unusually strong traction.
The Australian economy created 27,300 jobs in April, with 49,100 full-time jobs churned out through the month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.
It was the biggest one-month rise in employment since October 2008. Unemployment fell to 5.4% in April from 5.7% in March. Economists had expected a rise to a fresh 6-year high of 5.9% and that employment fell 25,000.
The US government began informing the 19 banks tested by the government late on Tuesday about how much fresh capital they need to withstand the economic downturn. The Federal Reserve is expected to release the full report on Thursday after the stock market closes.
It is expected that 10 of the banks that were tested may need capital. JPMorgan, American Express, Goldman Sachs and Bank of New York Mellon won't need to raise more money to shore up their balance sheets, according to analysts.
Australian retail sales rose at their fastest pace since late 2008 in March as the economy got a second surge from government economic stimulus efforts and a hefty cut in official interest rates.
Also in March, Australia recorded its second-largest trade surplus in history largely as a result of falling imports and still high contract prices for bulk commodity exports.