The author has been described by News Ltd as an "iconoclast", "Svengali", a pollie's "economist muse", and "pungently accurate". Fairfax says he is a "Renaissance man" and "one of Australia’s most respected analysts." Stephen Koukoulas concludes that he is "85% right", and "would make a great Opposition leader." Terry McCrann claims the author thinks "‘nuance’ is a trendy village in the south of France", but can be "scintillating" when he thinks "clearly". The ACTU reckons he’s "an enigma wrapped in a Bloomberg terminal, wrapped in some apparently well-honed abs."

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Q1 wages growth benign at 0.8% or +3.8% y/y -- below expectations

Well, the Q1 wages data surprised on the downside, only up +0.8% versus an expectation of +1.1%. Combined with a fall in vacancies and weak consumer sentiment data today, and last week's weak retail data and weak employment growth, the data-driven case for a June hike is fading by the second and will probably hang its hat on inflation expectations, capex and GDP before the RBA's June meeting.
at 11:38 AM