Cliff Notes: shifting views on the state of the economy
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October’s Westpac-MI Consumer Sentiment Survey shows a 6.2% increase to 89.8, a two-and-a-half year high; improvement attributed to reduced interest rate hike fears; sub-indexes for 12-month and 5-year outlooks rose 14.3% and 8.0%; RBA's September Minutes indicate weaker demand momentum; economic activity slowed to 1.0%yr in Q2 2024; forecasts growth recovery to 1.5%yr by year-end and 2.4%yr in 2025; RBA expected to cut rates in February 2025 to a terminal rate of 3.35%; US non-farm payrolls rose 254k in September, unemployment rate at 4.1%; FOMC minutes reveal discussions of 25 and 50bp cuts; CPI data for September showed slight increases, indicating stable inflation; Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut rates by 50bp to 4.75%, with expectations for further cuts.

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https://www.westpaciq.com.au/economics/2024/10/cliff-notes-11-oct-2024