France's business climate indicator increased for the third consecutive month to 98 in August from 97 in July, according to data from the country's statistical agency Insee published Friday.
The latest reading moves closer to the index's long-term average of 100.
For the manufacturing sector alone, the index came in at 103, against the prior and consensus estimate of 101.
Expectations for New Zealand's one-year-ahead annual consumer price index (CPI) growth fell to 2.99% in the September quarter, according to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's (RBNZ) survey published on Friday.The survey seeks to understand the economic outlook held by key decision makers from a representative sample of businesses and organizations in New Zealand.Two-year-ahead CPI growth expectations decreased to 2.55%, while five-year-ahead CPI growth expectations decreased to 2.48%, and 10-year-ahead CPI growth expectations to 2.51%.One-year ahead, two-year ahead, five-year ahead, and 10-year ahead annual CPI growth expectations in the June quarter were 3.68%, 2.87%, 2.72%, and 2.94%, respectively.One-year-ahead unemployment rate expectations also fell to 5.22% in the September quarter from 5.5% in the June quarter, and two-year-ahead unemployment rate expectations decreased to 4.89% from 5.25%.Expectations for annual wage growth over the next one year increased to 2.82% from 2.81%, while expectations for the next two years fell to 3.02% from 3.1% in the previous quarter.
The increase in Australia's jobless rate adds to the case for the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to hold off on hiking interest rates again, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) said in a Friday note.The country's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 4.5% in July from 4.4% in the previous month as employment fell by 15,800 people, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed. Wages data for the June quarter showed private sector wages grew 0.7%, the slowest pace since 2021.The fall in employment was well below consensus forecast for a rise of 12,000 jobs. Together, both data were consistent with a gradual softening in the labor market."Overall, the data is supportive of our view that the labor market remains on a solid footing but is slowly loosening and is moving closer to balance. Over time, this should assist in bringing inflation down and supports the case that interest rates have peaked this cycle," according to CBA economist Harry Ottley.The ABS cautioned that a smaller sample size in the July survey meant "the standard errors on estimates are bigger" and fluctuations should be taken with a grain of salt.
Credit card spending in New Zealand increased by 1.4% month on month to NZ$4.45 billion in July after a 1.2% decrease in the previous month, while credit card balances rose 0.3% to NZ$5.88 billion, data from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand showed Friday.Domestic billings on New Zealand-issued cards rose by 0.9% to NZ$3.92 billion in July, following a 1% decrease in the previous month. Billings on overseas-issued cards rose to NZ$522 million from NZ$441 million.Compared with the year-earlier period, credit card spending rose 5.3% in July after a 0.7% increase a year ago.