Australian January Services PMI (final) 48.6

Preliminary and priors for this, the Markit / S&P Global / Judo Bank Australia PMIs, can be found here:

• Flash PMIs from Australia for January 2023

Earlier this week we had the final manufacturing PMI:

• Australian January (final) Manufacturing PMI 50.0 (prior 50.2)

Final for January for services is 48.6, and for composite 48.5.

From the repot, Warren Hogan, Chief Economic Advisor at Judo Bank said:

• “Australia’s service sector economy improved in January following a moderation of activity for much of 2022. This welcome slowdown of economic activity has translated into a modest easing of inflation Inflation Inflation is defined as a quantitative measure of the rate in which the average price level of goods and services in an economy or country increases over a period of time. It is the rise in the general level of prices where a given currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods.In terms of assessing the strength or currencies, and by extension foreign exchange, inflation or measures of it are extremely influential. Inflation stems from the overall creation of money. This money is m Inflation is defined as a quantitative measure of the rate in which the average price level of goods and services in an economy or country increases over a period of time. It is the rise in the general level of prices where a given currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods.In terms of assessing the strength or currencies, and by extension foreign exchange, inflation or measures of it are extremely influential. Inflation stems from the overall creation of money. This money is m Read this Term pressures although, capacity constraints, particularly in the labour market, are still evident across the economy as we start 2023.
• “Services PMI ... strongest result in three months and is consistent with a mild slowdown in services activity from extraordinarily strong rates of growth in 2022.
• We might be seeing some renewed optimism about the re-opening of the Chinese market and improved access for Australian business.
• “This moderation of services activity from unsustainably strong rates of growth in 2022 will be welcomed by policy makers keen to reduce excess demand across the economy. What remains unclear is if this slowdown in activity is enough to bring inflation pressures back down in line with the RBA’s 2-3% target range.
• “All the price indicators in the services sector remain elevated in early 2023. While inflation is likely to have ‘peaked’ at 7.8% in the final quarter of 2022, the PMI price measures suggest underlying inflation pressures will not dissipate quickly.