Australian November business confidence -9 (prior -2)

<p>National Australia Bank Business Survey for November 2023</p><ul><li>business confidence -9 (prior -2), its lowest since the pandemic</li><li>business conditions + 9 (prior 13)</li></ul><p>Confidence the worst reading since 2012 (excluding during the pandemic). Conditions are still strong. The conditions measure is more objective than the sentiment-driven confidence index. </p><p>Sub measures:</p><ul><li>sales fell 6 points, although remained strong at +13</li><li>profitability fell 5 points to +6</li><li>employment firm at +8</li><li>capacity utilisation remained high at 83.9%</li><li>labour costs accelerated to a 2.2% quarterly rate in November</li></ul><p>NAB says:</p><ul><li> "For the consumer exposed sectors, you really need to go back
to the global financial crisis to see confidence this weak in
retail and recreation &amp; personal services"</li><li>"We will be closely watching to see if the weakness in
confidence is sustained and whether a trend emerges in
conditions, but for now it points to ongoing soft growth in Q4"
</li><li> "The hope is that with activity slowing the easing in price
pressures becomes more evident in early 2024"</li></ul>

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.