National Australia Bank Business Survey for November 2023
- business confidence -9 (prior -2), its lowest since the pandemic
- business conditions + 9 (prior 13)
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.
Sub measures:
- sales fell 6 points, although remained strong at +13
- profitability fell 5 points to +6
- employment firm at +8
- capacity utilisation remained high at 83.9%
- labour costs accelerated to a 2.2% quarterly rate in November
NAB says:
- "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 & personal services"
- "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"
- "The hope is that with activity slowing the easing in price pressures becomes more evident in early 2024"
