Australia’s NAB business survey showed a modest but broad-based improvement in December, pointing to resilient momentum into year-end. Business Confidence edged up from 2 to 3, while Business Conditions rose from 7 to 9.
The details underline that improvement. Trading conditions climbed from 13 to 16, while profitability rose from 4 to 7. Employment conditions were unchanged at 4, suggesting hiring demand remains steady rather than accelerating. Capacity utilisation eased slightly to 83.2%, down from its recent peak but still well above its long-run average.
Cost pressures also edged higher, with purchase costs rising from 1.3% to 1.4% in quarterly equivalent terms, labor costs from 1.5% to 1.8%, and product prices from 0.6% to 0.9%, even as retail price growth slowed to 0.4% from 0.8% in November.
Overall, the survey suggests the economy ended the year on a firm footing, with most indicators sitting modestly above late-Q3 levels. Meanwhile, NAB noted that for the RBA, the small pullback in capacity utilization is unlikely to materially ease concerns that the economy remains close to capacity.
