Jobs market slows; rock ’n’ roll consumer boom; Woolies, Coles delivery wars

Jobs market slows; rock ’n’ roll consumer boom; Woolies, Coles delivery wars

News in brief

Household spending rose last month, according to Commonwealth Bank card data, in part thanks to tours by Oasis, Metallica and ACDC, the Ashes cricket test in Perth, and the release of the movie Wicked: For Good.

 

Australians wanting to travel to the United States will have to provide their social media history over the last five years to enter the country, under new proposals by the Trump administration.

 

Westpac held its annual general meeting yesterday and around a dozen climate protesters greeted shareholders, banging drums and holding placards calling on the bank to stop funding for new fossil fuel projects.

 

Woolworths has entered a new partnership with delivery group DoorDash hoping to capitalise on shoppers wanting convenience this holiday period, just as Coles ramps up its partnership with Uber.

 

The Star of Bethlehem, that according to the Bible sat above the town where Jesus Christ was born, and led wise men to the stable, might have truly happened, even though stars don’t normally hover, according to a NASA scientist.

Fear-o-meter

The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates in the world’s biggest economy by another 25 basis points yesterday, but the announcement came with three dissenting views from within the central bank, and a blast from President Donald Trump.

 

Two dissenters did not want a rate cut, fearing the outbreak of inflation which the Trump tariffs have encouraged. Trump appointee Stephen Miran wanted a larger cut.

 

After the decision, Trump complained about a “deadhead Fed” and said the central bank should have cut rates by at least twice the amount it did. Fed chair Jerome Powell said the bank will now pause the cycle and assess how three cuts this year has affected the economy.

 

Trump is set to appoint a new Fed chair to take over from Powell in May next year. That appointment, which may come this month, is critical.

 

If the next chair follows Trump’s demand and cuts interest rates sharply in the world’s biggest economy, a bout of inflation is guaranteed. And that will impact Australia and other economies.

 

Ultimately inflation must be tamed, and that means, eventually, higher rates. Trump talking about a “deadhead Fed” might be a great sound bite, but it is incorrect and puts unreasonable pressure on the next Fed chair to do a bad job running the world's biggest economy.

Fear & Greed Q+A today

On the boom in overseas travel, the destinations Australians are visiting, and the origins of Intrepid Travel:

 

“Thirty-six years ago, two university mates from Melbourne Uni were travelling through Africa on a converted tipper truck and realised there was a potential style of travel that sat between the big organised coach tour and the Lonely Planet-style backpacking. One went to Thailand to research the first itinerary, the other stayed in Melbourne on his kitchen table doing sales and marketing. In the first year they carried 47 people — probably family and friends. This year Intrepid will carry more than 300,000 customers to over 114 countries. Forty-five per cent are Australians, still our biggest market, but we’re growing fastest in the UK and the United States.”

The local economy shed more than 21,000 jobs last month, an outcome far worse than expected, while the unemployment rate stayed at 4.3 per cent. The result will be closely considered by the Reserve Bank, with Governor Michele Bullock earlier this week saying the labour market was important for interest rates. Full-time employment dropped by 57,000 in November. Men comprised most of the job losses. Part-time employment was up 35,000, and most of those jobs went to women. There would have been an increase in the unemployment rate, except that the participation rate fell, as did the employment to population ratio.

Greed-o-meter

Category	Nov spend %
Recreation	1.6
Insurance	0.9
Motor Vehicle	0.9
Household Goods	0.7
Health	0.7
Hospitality	0.7
Household Services	0.6
Communications and Digital	0.6
Education	0.4
Transport	0.0
Food & beverage goods	-0.2
Utilities	-2.1

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Australians continued to spend last month, with the CommBank Household Spending Insights index showing a 0.5% increase in November. Unusually, in a month dominated by the Black Friday sales, Recreation was the top category, perhaps due to the combination mentioned above of sporting events (The Ashes), music concerts (Oasis, ACDC) and blockbuster movies (Wicked).

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Source: CommBank Household Spending Insights