Business concerns about the potential for a sharp fall in future activity have continued to ease.
Business appears increasingly concerned that further weakness is in prospect. The Reserve Bank is very much on hold, weighing the higher inflation reality against the prospect of further slowing in domestic demand and a mild deterioration in the labor market.
Despite improvements in confidence and still reasonable sales, the results suggest that business is still reluctant to increase hiring.
There was continuing strength in mining, equipment manufacturing, nonresidential construction and utilities, ... Against that, residential construction, parts of agriculture and both wholesale and retail report poor and falling business conditions.
The deterioration in agribusiness contrasts starkly with the ongoing strength in the non-farm business sector as a whole.