BUSINESS
NEWS
EMPLOYMENT BOOMING
Employment figures continue to be impressive with the last official
statistics showing the lowest unemployment rate at 5 percent the
best for nearly three decades. Over ten million people are now
in work. This figure is in line with the better overseas economies
such as the US which also has unemployment stable at around 5
percent whereas some European countries have got a big problem
with Germany at over 11 percent.
SUPER CHOICE CONFLICT
As the dust settles from the many moves of employees choosing
which super fund to invest in, the fight between the two opposed
camps of industry and retail funds continues. The latest claim
and counter claim has industry funds insisting their members could
be 32 percent better off due to their fee structures while the
retail side advocates its wider range of investments and user-friendly
information as investor benefits.
MORTGAGE BROKERS HOT
While the heat has gone out of the growth in house prices, the
mortgage broking business continues to do well. Industry statistics
show aggressive marketing to get results with the better operators
claiming increases of over 20 percent over last years sales.
FINANCE IS BIGGER BUSINESS
The prolonged record sales of new cars and credit has pushed the
finance sector to record profits. KPMG's annual survey to financial
product providers shows improvements across the board but no less
than a 28 percent lift in sales of personal loans, mainly for
cars.
BUSINESS OUTLOOK
CONTRACT LABOUR GROWS
One of the strongest growth areas of business services is the
providing of contract skilled labour which is an industry currently
expanding at over 20 percent. But on the flip side of the subject,
nearly 40 percent of businesses surveyed by the contract skilled
labour industry say they expect to put on full time skilled staff
later this calendar year.
CONFIDENCE CONTINUES TO DROP
Consumer confidence continues to drop with surging fuel costs
and worries about changing industrial relations as the main reasons.
The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index reports another fall of
5.5 percent for July. This comes only 6 months after sentiments
were at a record high.
FOREIGN FUNDS BEST INVESTMENT
A survey of more than 40 Australian-based fund managers says the
strongest performing asset class this financial year is likely
to be international shares. This is despite the recent double-digit
superannuation returns local shares have had in the past year.
Managers say the local market is expensive with only small companies
and property trusts being attractive.
