Retail trade up 0.2% in December, Job ads up 2.4%: Economy Roundup

Retail turnover grew by just 0.2% in December, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, despite expectations of a 0.5% rise.

The ABS said sales had grown by 0.2% to $20.35 billion during December, with department stores taking the biggest hit at 1.2%. Food retailing and other retailing dropped by 0.5% and 0.8% respectively.

Victoria recorded the largest increase at 0.5%, with New South Wales turnover up by 0.4%, followed by Queensland at 0.3% and the Northern Territory at 0.2%.

Turnover in South Australia and Tasmania fell by 1.3% each, while turnover in Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory fell by 0.2% and 0.5% respectively.

Job ads up 2.4% in January

Job advertisements in newspapers and the internet reached a two-year high in January, according to the latest ANZ job advertisements series, in a result indicating the floods may have less of an impact on the labour market than first feared.

The ANZ series shows job ads rose by a seasonally adjusted 2.4% in January from December – a 12th consecutive increase with an average job ad total of 192,129, up by 40% from January 2010.

Ivan Colhoun, ANZ’s head of Australian economics, said the figure would have been higher if the floods hadn’t occurred.

“Even before taking account of the impact of the Queensland floods, the 2.4% rise in job advertising in January was a relatively healthy result,” Colhoun said in a statement.

“This suggests Australian labour demand remained reasonably solid in the latter months of 2010 in spite of some patchiness in a number of sectors of the economy.

“We consider there to be significant upside risk to the markets forecast and note that the markets have consistently tended to under-forecast employment growth over the past five years.”

Fairfax appoints Greg Hywood as chief executive

Fairfax has confirmed it will appoint former journalist Greg Hywood as the company’s chief executive, having already operated in the acting CEO role for some time.

“The board is enormously pleased Greg has accepted the role. Having conducted an international search, we are in no doubt that Greg is the best person to lead Fairfax Media through the exciting years ahead,” chairman Roger Corbett said in a statement.

“His experience and knowledge of the sector and the company and his editorial, digital and commercial capabilities made him the stand out choice.”

Shares flat despite positive US leads

The Australian sharemarket has opened flat this morning despite positive leads from the US last week after a number of companies announced profit downgrades.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down one point or 0.02% to 4861.7 at 12.20 AEST, while the Australian dollar also weakened to $US1.01.

ANZ shares dropped 0.1% to $24.17, as Commonwealth Bank shares rose 0.7% to $53.43. NAB rose 0.7% to $25.03 as AMP rose 0.2% to $5.53.

Construction activity down for eighth consecutive month

Activity in the construction industry contracted for an eighth consecutive month, according to the Australia Industry Group-Housing Industry Association construction index.

The index fell by 3.6 points to 40.2 in December, well below the 50-point threshold separating expansion from contraction.

“While flooding and bad weather conditions have caused project delays and stoppages, higher interest rates, caution on the part of home buyers and businesses and tight credit conditions continue to hamper growth,” AIG director of public policy Peter Burn said in a statement.

“As the post-flood rebuilding task takes hold over the coming months, the sector is likely to see a pick-up in activity in some regions.”

Asciano appoints John Mullen as CEO

Asciano has appointed former DHL Express chief John Mullen as the company’s new managing director to succeed Mark Rowsthorn.

“The availability of a person of John’s calibre and skill set provides shareholders with comfort that the company will be in good hands going forward,” Asciano chairman Malcolm Broomhead said in a statement.

“John will lead Asciano into its next phase with his significant industry experience and proven track record. He will build on Mark’s work and tireless commitment as CEO since the company’s demerger from the Toll Group in 2007.”