Business turnover up as consumer confidence holds steady

Recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed that throughout November 2024, business turnover climbed 2 per cent.

Of the 13 industries recorded, 10 saw a rise in turnover over the month. Similarly, 11 of the 13 saw yearly increases.

“The Mining industry rise of 5.7 per cent was the main driver in this strong outcome,” said Robert Ewing, ABS head of business statistics.

“At the finer level, multiple mining subdivisions saw a rise. This included oil and gas extraction, up 9.5 per cent, and metal ore mining, which rose 6 per cent, both driven by strong export volumes. Other notable rises included the manufacturing industry and the transport, postal and warehousing industry, both up 3 per cent.”

Compounding a rise in business turnover is the steadying of consumer confidence.

ANZ economist Sophia Angala said: “ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence was steady last week, rising just 0.2 points. Weekly inflation expectations fell 0.2 points to 5 per cent, but this was a pullback of the six-month high in the week prior.

“Households are feeling more confident about their future financial conditions and the economic outlook over the next 12 months. Notably, the short-term economic confidence subindex lifted to its highest level since April 2022, before the first rate hike in May 2022.

“Across the housing cohorts, confidence among renters and mortgage-holders have moved sideways on a four-week moving average basis. Meanwhile, confidence among outright homeowners continues to move upwards, as the four-week moving average lifted to its highest level since the beginning of the rate hike cycle, May 2022.”

As discussed in Westpac’s card tracker data, tax cuts have eased some of the consumer stress experienced in recent years. A lot of weight will be on the RBA’s cash rate decision this year, which some economists are penning for as early as February.

“Overall, the data suggest tax cuts have generated some traction with consumer demand but that the pace of spending growth is still not strong. Interest rate cuts should provide more support over the course of 2025 but with sentiment making a shaky start to the year it may continue to be a slow road to recovery for the Australian consumer,” said Westpac.

[Related: Business confidence up despite stubborn cash rate]

Jack Campbell is the editor of Broker Daily. After graduating from the University of Wollongong in 2022, Jack began his journalistic career working on Broker Daily’s sister brand, HR Leader. In August 2023 he was made the news editor and worked alongside some talented journalists writing articles and recording podcasts.

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