Australia Q1 +1.3% On Year, CPI +0.2% On Quarter
22 April 2015 - 1:00PM
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Consumer prices in Australia added 0.2 percent on quarter in the
first quarter of 2015, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on
Wednesday.
That was unchanged from the previous quarter, although it
exceeded forecasts for an increase of 0.1 percent.
On a yearly basis, inflation advanced 1.3 percent - in line with
forecasts and down from 1.7 percent in the previous three
months.
The Reserve Bank of Australia's trimmed mean added 2.3 percent
on year, beating forecasts for 2.2 percent - which would have been
unchanged.
On quarter, the trimmed mean added 0.6 percent - in line with
forecasts and unchanged from Q4.
The RBA's weighted median was up 2.4 percent on year - unchanged
an exceeding forecasts for 2.3 percent.
The median also also added 0.6 percent on quarter versus
forecasts for 0.5 percent and down from 0.7 percent.
Among the individual components, prices for education jumped 5.3
percent on quarter, followed by health care (2.5 percent), housing
and alcohol (both 0.8 percent) and recreation (0.7 percent).
Transport costs fell 3.4 percent and clothing prices were down 1.3
percent.
On a yearly basis, education costs were up 5.4 percent on year,
followed by alcohol (5.2 percent), furniture (4.4 percent), housing
(2.7 percent) and food (1.9 percent). Transport costs were down 6.2
percent and communication costs fell 4.5 percent.
Also on Wednesday, the latest leading economic index from
Westpac Bank and the Melbourne Institute showed on Wednesday that
Australia's economy is expected to slow through the remainder of
this year, sliding 0.3 percent in March.
That follows the 0.3 percent increase in February.
The economy is expected to struggle as businesses and consumers
continue to be reluctant to spend their money, resulting in
below-trend economic growth.