21 Quotes by Alan Oster

The story is one of continuing boom conditions in mining and very strong nonresidential construction activity. The Reserve Bank is still very much on hold, watching both the inflation outlook and domestic demand.

On transport, it is one of the few sectors that has continued to deteriorate through the quarter, no doubt reflecting the impact of higher oil prices on costs and profitability.

Against that, cost pressures and more specifically oil prices remain a concern, as does the availability of suitable labor.

Despite improvements in confidence and still reasonable sales, the results suggest that business is still reluctant to increase hiring.

There was continuing strength in mining, equipment manufacturing, nonresidential construction and utilities, ... Against that, residential construction, parts of agriculture and both wholesale and retail report poor and falling business conditions.

The Reserve Bank will continue to monitor higher short-term inflation risks from oil against slowing economic activity. While the bank might engage in occasional bouts of jawboning, we see little prospect of rates moving in either direction for some considerable period.

Confidence has been getting weaker for some months and trading conditions have weakened a bit in the latest survey. They could weaken more in the short term, but when you look at the medium term, companies are still quite optimistic.

It needs to be stressed that the case (for a rate hike) is not about current levels of wage/price pressures, but where they might be headed in an environment of an economy operating at high levels of capacity and in a very tight labor market.

Oil-sensitive sectors continue to weaken, led down by retailing, wholesaling and transport,