With falls in retail trade.
Roy Morgan Business Confidence fell 1.4% in December, continuing a trend which has seen it decline in six out of the last seven years in the final month of the year. Concerns about business performance appear to have driven the small decrease.
Roy Morgan CEO, Michele Levine, said business confidence has fallen as Australians gear up for an extended period of campaigning before a likely May Federal Election.
“Drilling down into the industry level reveals it is falls in retail trade, finance & insurance and arts & recreational services industries which contributed to the decline in overall business confidence in December with all three industries below the neutral level of 100,” she said.
Although confidence moderated in the 2018 second half, as political uncertainty increased it turned out to be a relatively good year for the economy with business confidence averaging 115.3, its best annual result for four years since 2014.
“The downward trajectory of business confidence in the second half has been broad-based in a geographical sense with Australia’s largest and smallest states all down in the 2018 December quarter compared to a year ago. It is only mining intensive Western Australia that has seen a boost over the last 12 months and which no longer has the lowest business confidence of any state.”