CBA revised their forecast up earlier: GDP forecasts from one of the big 4 Australian banks
Now Westpac have upgraded Q2 GDP growth forecast to 1.0% q/q (from 0.7%)
- & 2.0% y/y
Detail:
- Domestic demand 1.2%
- inventories -0.6ppts
- net exports +0.3ppts
Westpac go on:
Key themes for Q2 are:
- activity rebounded with the return to more normal conditions following weather disruptions in Q1;
- a hiring burst, employment +0.9% and hours worked +1.2%, after an employment undershoot in 2016;
- consumers spent more freely in the period, a forecast 1.0%, with household incomes boosted by the lift in employment (albeit constrained by weak wages growth);
- an improved global back drop;
- positive trends around service export and public investment, as well as a modest lift in business investment;
- while home building was broadly flat, ahead of a downturn leading into 2018.
