Surprise jobs surge; PM makes first trip; hybrid sales tumble
Published: May 15, 2025
Surprise jobs surge; PM makes first trip; hybrid sales tumble
News in brief
Employment surged in April by 89,000 jobs, more than four times what economists had expected. But the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%, and the Reserve Bank will likely still cut rates next week.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Indonesia, where he met with President Prabowo Subianto, and declared ‘no relationship is more important to Australia than this one.’
Car sales fell by 7pc last month, with plug-in hybrid sales tumbling following the removal of a fringe benefit tax exemption for these models. The Toyota Hi-Lux was the most popular vehicle.
Tesla chair Robyn Denholm has cashed in nearly $US200 million worth of shares over the past six months, capitalising on her stock options, despite CEO Elon Musk urging employees to ‘hang onto your stock’
US President Donald Trump has met with the leader of Qatar on the second stop of his Middle East tour, signing agreements the White House claim would ‘generate an economic exchange worth at least $1.2 trillion’.
Fear-o-meter
In the past 48 hours we have learnt that the labour market in Australia is hot but fortunately wages are not growing out of control. That’s two pieces of data slightly at odds.
On Monday, the Reserve Bank Board board begins its two-day meeting, and at its conclusion, on Tuesday at 2:30pm, we find out if the board has decided to cut the official cash rate. All indicators suggest they will.
That will push the standard variable loan rate on a mortgage to the low 6’s. If you negotiate with your lender, you can probably get it down to something starting with a 5.
Inflation, it seems, is tamed though not defeated.
It's economic growth that the RBA now needs to focus on. Household spending is tepid as is the building market. As government spending (including electricity rebates) is wound back post-election, lower rates are needed to spur on activity. It would be a mistake not to cut rates next week.
Who's talking today?
On the role of branded merchandise in marketing, and why Mercha turned down an order for 250,000 plastic whistles not long after launching the business:
"We launched the business in February of 2022, it wasn't long after that, a time we would've really enjoyed having a large order like that, it was from a large organisation. And we drew a very clear line at Mercha in the early days that we were not going to support what we say is cheap pre-landfill junk, and unfortunately a lot of promotional products are just that: they're lowest common denominator, they're literally built to fail.
The person that was looking to place the order was just looking for something for New Year's Eve, and we knew all of them were going to end up in the bin, or in the harbour, or would end up in nature somewhere.
It would've been great to have the cash at that point, but we decided it was better not to do it, and I think it was the right decision."
It’s Friday the 16th of May 2025, and a surprise jump in the number of jobs shouldn't prevent the Reserve Bank cutting rates next week. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese makes his first trip overseas since the election, while the Greens decide on a new leader. Plus sales of plug-in hybrid cars tumble, and the Australian chair of Tesla makes a fortune selling her shares in the EV maker.
Greed-o-meter
| Location | % properties over $1m | |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2025 | |
| Sydney | 28.2% | 64.4% |
| Melbourne | 12.4% | 30.9% |
| Brisbane | 2.8% | 40.2% |
| Adelaide | 1.9% | 27.9% |
| Perth | 6.9% | 26.3% |
| Hobart | 0.1% | 11.9% |
| Darwin | 1.0% | 1.3% |
| Canberra | 1.6% | 33.2% |
| Regions | 0.5% | 19.4% |
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More than a third of homes nationally are now valued at $1 million or higher, according to new research from Cotality. And on a city-by-city basis, the sharp increase over the last decade is even more pronounced.
Listen to today's episode 🎧
Source: Cotality, formerly CoreLogic
One day down, two to go
Sean Aylmer and Adam Lang from Fear & Greed are one third of the way there. After riding a casual 130km from Bourke to Cobar yesterday, today it's another 130km to Nyngan - a long way for a pair of novice cyclists.
It's all part of Royal Far West's 380km Ride For Country Kids. The goal is to raise as much money as possible to improve life options for kids from rural communities.
Sean and Adam have nearly hit their fundraising target. If you can help get them over the line, you can donate here. All assistance is hugely appreciated.