The Australian Financial Review --- Page: 10 : 23 August 2007 Original article by Alexander Symonds
LexisNexis Summary
The latest Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Index data show a positive outlook for the Australian economy. The index increased to 7.1 per cent in June 2007, compared with 6.2 per cent in May. Bill Evans, the chief economist at Westpac, has attributed the upward trend to the fact that productivity, company profits and liquidity have increased. Meanwhile, the Department of Employment & Workplace Relations has released less bullish data on the outlook for the labour market. The skilled vacancies index has fallen by 3.4 per cent since July 2007, while it has fallen by 3.9 per cent in the last year.
