Yesterday
US jobless claims drop to lowest in almost two years
Continuing unemployment claims in the US fell by 32,000, signalling stability in the labour market despite the economic fallout from the war in Iran.
This Month
RBA’s narrow pathway on inflation will need to widen
If the central bank is serious about getting core inflation back to its 2.5 per cent target, it will need to abandon a dual goal to keep the unemployment rate low.
Chalmers’ stagflation-lite nightmare: Why piecemeal fixes will fail
Economic reality has caught up with the government, as it confronts a 1970s-style stagflation-lite shock. Nothing less than a U-turn is needed to get back on track.
Jobless rate rises; PM names fuel co-ordinator; Oil shock is only growing
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
Wood calls for corporate tax rethink to fix ‘disastrous’ investment, productivity
Productivity Commission chair Danielle Wood says Labor should drop its budget neutral rule for tax reform to boost business investment and fix stagnant productivity. Follow live updates.
Business, government unprepared for AI’s job-killing ‘freight train’
Influential investors say that even a wall of money for data centre development will not be enough to ward off employment upheaval from artificial intelligence.
Australia needs to ‘grow up’ and broaden US reliance, says Sinodinos
The former Australian ambassador to Washington says America has brought much uncertainty and Canberra must remind it of the importance of the Indo-Pacific.
February
RBA’s inaction may ultimately force it to repeatedly lift rates
Michele Bullock does not know if rates should go up. The central bank governor says she has time on her side, but that is dead wrong. We’re already in crisis.
Chalmers eyes budget upgrade as gold eclipses gas exports
The gold rally marks the latest in a string of revenue windfalls for the Albanese government, which has also benefited from a jobs boom and soaring energy prices.
Jobless rate steady; Data centre demand drives Goodman; Ellerston swoops on Winning Appliances
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
Government spending is pushing up the inflation tax on everyone
Budget cuts are needed not for its own sake but to lessen capacity constraints on private sector investment, innovation, and productivity.
ASX eyes record high as 80 companies prepare to report
The Australian sharemarket is set to open higher ahead of a busy earnings week. JB Hi-Fi, BlueScope, Treasury Wines Estates and Stockland will report on Monday.
America’s debt time bomb just got bigger. Here’s the near-term trigger
US national debt will surge over the next decade, but the picture would be worse if it weren’t for Donald Trump’s tariffs. And that’s why a new flashpoint looms.
US adds surprise 130,000 job but job creation is weakest since 2020
The latest delayed jobs report included major revisions that reduced the number of jobs created last year to just 181,000, less than half the previously reported.
January
Amazon to cut another 16,000 corporate jobs to pay for AI
Amazon has been cutting costs across its businesses as it ploughs money into building data centres to compete in the race to dominate artificial intelligence.
Aussie dollar storms to a 16-month high on rate hike bets
The local currency climbed above US68¢ following a blowout jobs report that analysts says could seal the case for the first interest rate increase in Australia in two years.
Jobs data is a happy shock, but rate hikes are still a close call
The shock fall in the unemployment rate means a February rate hikes is a real possibility. But there are three reasons the RBA should take its time before strangling growth.
Rapid, repeated interest rate rises coming this year, economists say
Almost half of the 38 experts surveyed in the Financial Review’s first quarterly poll for 2026 reckon the next move is up, and some think it will not stop there.
Victorian treasury warning over razor-thin $700m operating surplus
Donald Trump’s tariffs did not hit the Victorian economy as badly as treasury first feared, but the new taxes still pose a significant risk to the state.
December 2025
RBA board losing confidence interest rates are slowing economy
Minutes from the Reserve Bank’s December meeting reveal board members are divided over whether financial settings are tight enough to curb persistent price growth.
