Australia’s NAB Business Confidence index rose from 5 to 7 in July, and moving just above the long-run average of 5. NAB noted that confidence has been trending higher despite elevated global uncertainty.
Business Conditions slipped from 7 to 5, with weakness seen across all subcomponents. Trading conditions fell from 14 to 11, profitability from 4 to 2, and employment from 4 to 1. While the pullback follows strong gains in June, NAB noted conditions have retained much of last month’s improvement.
Price indicators highlighted ongoing inflationary pressures in pockets of the economy. Labor cost growth accelerated from 1.3% to 2.1% in quarterly equivalent terms. Purchase costs edged up from 1.3% to 1.5%. Final product price growth strengthened from 0.5% to 0.9%, and retail price growth climbed from 0.5% to 1.1%.
