Confidence among Australians crept higher in the past week, although there was a clear divide between those in a COVID-19 lockdown and those who are not.
The ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index rose 0.5 per cent in the past week, which ANZ head of Australian economics David Plank felt partly reflected the surprise drop in the unemployment rate to 4.6 per cent.
There were strong confidence gains in Western Australia, up 11.4 per cent, while it rose eight per cent in South Australia. Brisbane was also up 1.7 per cent.
However, locked down NSW fell by 1.9 per cent and Victoria was off 2.9 per cent.
“But even with this drop, sentiment in these two states remains well above the lows of last year,” Mr Plank said.
“This supports our expectation that household spending will likely rebound sharply in lockdown areas when restrictions ease.”
However, other economists are concerned political bickering over when internal border closures will become a thing of the past may slow the sharp recovery experienced when previous restrictions ended.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is pinning hopes on the national plan to open up the economy once vaccination rates of 70 and 80 per cent are met.
Just over 30 per cent of Australians are fully vaccinated at present.
However, some states appear to be baulking at the national cabinet agreement at a time when NSW is posting more than 800 new infections a day.
A Labor analysis of federal government emergency payments suggests they may not be that lucrative for those stuck in lockdown and unable to work.
It says while the cumulative costs of these payments is currently estimated to be up to $25 billion, just $4 billion has been delivered.
It also estimates someone in NSW will have been living on $38 per week, $25 per week in Victoria and just $23 in the ACT.
“Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg have coughed up a small fraction of the $300 million a day that is being bled from the national economy as a direct result of their incompetence,” shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers told AAP.
“Ending JobKeeper before the pandemic had ended and before enough Australians were vaccinated looks dumber by the day.”
AAP
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