Bob
Your data analyst
Building Approvals is the standout this week, flipping amber to green despite approvals falling 3.08% to 17,286 dwellings. The band move tracks the underlying trend rather than the monthly dip, and it lands while Youth Unemployment remains in its fresh amber band at 10.2%, up 0.7 points. Two recent flips in opposite directions across housing and youth jobs is the cleanest story in the data right now.
The labour and rates picture has not softened. Unemployment Rate sits at 4.49%, up from 4.28%, a 4.9% relative move and the fourth headline metric still in amber. The RBA Cash Rate is recorded at 4.31%, 21 basis points above 4.10%. Against that, Household Spending eased 1.12% to $79.42 billion but held green, and Labour Productivity Growth ticked from flat to 0.3% per year, keeping its green band. Housing supply continues to build: New Dwelling Completions rose 4.69% to 47,803 for the quarter. Federal Gross Debt trimmed 1.11% to $1,718.5 billion but remains the only red on the board. Smaller moves: Electricity Price up 0.5c to 33.5c/kWh, and Year 12 Completion Rate down 1.3 points to 84.9%.
The fortnight ahead has one anchor. ABS Labour Force for May 2026 prints on 18 June and will refresh Unemployment Rate, underemployment and the youth series. That release will settle whether the youth amber band holds or snaps back to green, and whether the jobless rate keeps drifting up.