For the month of November the largest increases were recorded in five categories:
Housing: registered an increase of 9.6%. This category incorporates the cost of building a new home and rental prices
Food and Non-Alcoholic: up 9.4%
Transportation: up 9.0%
Furniture, Household Equipment and Services: up 8.4% and
Entertainment: an increase of 5.8%
Moody's Analytics financial analyst Harry Murphy Cruise, speaking on SBS's show On the Money, said the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics do not give the overall picture of where the country is placed in relation to inflationary trends. “We will have to wait for the next Consumer Price Index data at the end of the month that will include data on fuel and utilities,” he said.
Harry Murphy Cruise estimates that we will see inflation climb closer to 8% in December before it starts to decline — and this will probably happen in 2023 — and return to levels of 2 to 3% in mid-24.
High inflation means high interest rates, and according to financial analysts, the Reserve Bank will continue to raise interest rates in the first half of 2023. An increase of half a percentage point is expected by March.
The Reserve Bank meets again on 7 February.
Interest rates are currently 3.1%, which is the highest level in the decade since November 2012. The latest figures from the Statistical Office also record a low drop in jobs of 4.9%. In November, the jobs advertised amounted to 444 thousand two hundred.
This decline could be seen as a first sign of the slowdown down of the economy.
However, consumer spending saw a record increase for November by 1.4%.
