Australia NAB Business Confidence rose to 12 in November, up from 3. Business Conditions rose to 9, up from 2. Trading conditions improved to 17, from 7. Profitability conditions rose to 15, up from 5. Employment conditions, however, was unchanged at -5. NAB noted, “Overall both confidence and conditions are now above average, and stronger than the period right before the pandemic – albeit this partly reflects some ‘snapback’ following the containment of the virus.”
However, “the employment index did not see a further improvement and remains in negative territory. So, while activity is picking up as the economy reopens, businesses are yet to move back into hiring mode. This is not completely surprising with the labour market often lagging developments in activity – so we will keep closely watching this measure,” said Alan Oster, NAB Group Chief Economist
