A fall in business confidence seems to have justified the Reserve Bank interest rate cut on Tuesday.
Business confidence fell in the last three months of 2015, mostly because of the impact the falling Australian dollar is having on companies that import.
The National Australia Bank quarterly business survey, showed that the December quarter business confidence index fell four points to plus two, which is below its long-run average.
NAB said business conditions are struggling to recover. That index was unchanged in the quarter, with the economy's strength restricted to the construction and service sectors.
"Construction has been supported by strong investor demand, particularly in medium density housing, driven by low interest rates and foreign buyers," NAB said.
"Outside of construction and services, conditions remain soft in all other industries."
The local currency fell seven US cents in the quarter to a low of 80.88 US cents.
The NAB report said companies responding to the survey expect the lower Australian dollar will continue to have a negative impact on their businesses.
"Industries with high import costs, such as wholesale, reported a larger impact," NAB said.
"The biggest positive changes occurred in mining as depreciation helps to cushion the impact of sharp falls in commodity prices. Hedging remains the most common means of managing currency risk."
The NAB's employment index was unchanged in the December quarter suggesting that employment growth will continue to be moderate.
"These levels are consistent with some additional slack in the labour market that will see the unemployment rate lift a little further from its current level, which was 6.1 per cent in December," NAB said.
That is back up by the Reserve Bank's outlook, the RBA said on Tuesday it expects unemployment to peak a little higher than it had earlier expected.
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