Consumer confidence continues to rise, jumping 1.5 per cent last week as Australia reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter economic growth and ANZ job ads surged.
'Current financial conditions' gained 1.5 per cent following a two-week decline, while 'future financial conditions' improved 1.1 per cent.
'Current economic conditions' rose 3.6 per cent and 'future economic conditions' registered a gain of 2.1 per cent - almost reversing the fall of 2.4 per cent the week before.
'Time to buy a major household item' softened 0.8 per cent. 'Weekly inflation expectations' dropped to 3.8 per cent (down 0.1 percentage points), with the four-week moving average steady at 3.7 per cent.
"The ANZ Roy-Morgan Consumer Confidence index rose 1.5 per cent along with generous gains in four out of five of the sub-indices," ANZ Head of Australian Economics David Plank said. "The rise likely reflects the strong gains registered by ANZ Job Ads and the GDP numbers released last week."
"Job ads grew 13.4 per cent ear-on-year in February and Australia saw two consecutive quarters of economic growth of more than 3 per cent for the first time in history."
"The long weekend of Victoria may also have contributed, as confidence rose 2.1 per cent in the state."
