Inflation eases faster than expected as economy cools
Inflation in Australia is easing faster than many expected as the economy cools in the wake of 13 interest rate increases since May 2022.
New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed the consumer price index - largely considered the benchmark for broad inflation - rose 4.9 per cent annually in October 2023.
October's rise was down from 5.6 per cent in September, and was well below the expected rate of 5.2 per cent that many analysts were predicting.
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October's rise was well below the expected rate of 5.2 per cent that many analysts were predicting. Getty
Leigh Merrington, acting ABS head of price statistics, said the annual rate was well below the peak of 8.4 per cent in December 2022.
"CPI inflation is often impacted by items with volatile price changes like Automotive fuel, Fruit and vegetables, and Holiday travel. It can be helpful to exclude these items from the headline CPI to provide a view of underlying inflation," he said.
"When excluding these volatile items from the monthly CPI indicator, the annual rise in October is 5.1 per cent, lower than the annual rise of 5.5 per cent in September."
More to come ...
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