Blogotariat

The latest ABS Labour Force survey painted a deeply mixed picture of the job market. On the one hand, this single print presented a compelling picture: a substantial increase of 42,200 new jobs, all full-time in net terms, and a robust growth in hours worked. However, a longer view reveals a decidedly more challenging picture. As

The post Australia’s hidden labour market recession appeared first on MacroBusiness.

The ferrous complex remains paralysed by iron ore prices that are too high for steel profits. But we are in some equilibrium, as steel demand and supply are locked together. Modestly reduced steel supply has been drawing down inventory. While lifting iron ore inventory at ports. Something needs to change to rebalance. Either the government

The post Pilbra killer fails to fire a shot appeared first on MacroBusiness.

The Australian National University (ANU) is one of the nation’s key purveyors of immigration propaganda. Propagandists like “Dr Demography” Liz Allen are regular mouthpieces on the pro-Big Australia migration circuit, as are the ANU Migration Hub’s Peter McDonald and Alan Gamlen. When Australia’s net overseas migration hit 530,000 in the year to December 2023, the

The post ANU propagandists spin more migration lies appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Last week, the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) released its new prudential standard, effective February 2026, which caps high-risk mortgages (debt-to-income ratio over 6x) at 20% of new lending. APRA’s announcement aims to manage housing vulnerabilities preemptively amid rising prices but excludes new housing builds and applies portfolio-wide, allowing banks flexibility while aligning with government goals

I’ve been seeing more and more alarmism about the idea that, on current demographic trends, the world’s population might shrink to a billion in a century or two. That distant prospect is producing lots of advocacy for policies to increase birth rates right now.

Another Monday Message Board. Post comments on any topic. Civil discussion and no coarse language please. Side discussions and idees fixes to the sandpits, please.

I’m now using Substack as a blogging platform, and for my monthly email newsletter. For the moment, I’ll post both at this blog and on Substack. You can also follow me on Mastodon here.

Origin says a phased closure of the country's biggest coal generator is a "reasonable" assumption. "It's not straightforward," says CEO Frank Calabria.

In every era, certain industries become so large, so politically embedded, and so culturally unexamined that their performance ceases to matter.

Last week, Cotality released its housing affordability report for the September quarter of 2025, which revealed that rental affordability has hit its lowest level on record. The percentage of income required to meet advertised rents on the median home hit a record high of 33.4% in the September quarter, up from 26.2% five years earlier.

The post Rental market “extremely tight”, no signs of easing appeared first on MacroBusiness.

By Lucinda Jerogin, Associate Economist at CBA: Australian headline inflation surprised to the upside, accelerating 3.8% through the year to October. The policy relevant trimmed mean measure increased to 3.3%/yr. The total volume of capex also recorded a strong turnaround, up 6.4% in Q3 25. Construction work done fell 0.7%/qtr, driven down by a decline

The post The economic week ahead appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Snowy 2.0 is a century-scale asset in a world built on short cycles. It will continue operating long after today's battery farms have been replaced many times