Pessimism spreads from Victoria in August

12 August 2020

 

Summary: Household sentiment retreats for second consecutive month; confidence index back to level comparable to April; extent of deterioration in non-Victorian states a surprise; index significantly below long-term average; Westpac chief economist says August reading be treated cautiously; households “extremely worried” about job loss.   After a lengthy divergence between measures of consumer sentiment and business confidence in Australia which began in 2014, confidence readings of the two sectors converged...

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