Research Briefing | Apr 8, 2021

Australia | Recovery tracker edges up to pre-COVID level

Copy of Ipad Frame (15)

Our recovery tracker indicator has continued to improve through 2021 after a seasonal dip in January. The tracker has reached its pre-pandemic level, with strength in job advertisements and parts of discretionary spending broadly offset by ongoing weakness in mobility indicators, lockdown stringency measures and renewed volatility in financial markets.

What you will learn:

  • Transmission of COVID-19 has picked up globally, with a new, more infectious strain emerging in India. Transmission in Australia has remained subdued.
  • Consumer sentiment has been improving in line with the economic recovery. Restaurants have seen an uplift in bookings as people look to spend money locally rather than travelling in response to snap lockdowns, which are also somewhat stalling the recovery in mobility and investment.
  • The strong performance in equities markets cooled in March, with the sharp increase in bond yields also contributing to greater volatility.

Back to Resource Hub

Related Services

construction site

Post

Firms must brace for higher ‘new normal’ construction material prices

New research by Oxford Economics suggests that construction materials prices have shifted permanently higher due to the shocks of the past couple of years. Project managers and investors should anticipate costs being at least 15-20% higher in 2024 and onwards than in 2021.

Find Out More

Post

New Activity Trackers suggest momentum is waning

After a choppy first quarter of GDP data, our novel Activity Trackers (which incorporate proprietary daily sentiment data from Penta) suggest that economic momentum in EM Asia is on a softer trend in Q2 (at least outside of China) supporting our view of easing underlying inflationary pressures and diminishing appetite for further rate hikes.

Find Out More