The Essential Report Archive Read the latest report
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economic conditions, economy, GFC
Economic conditions in Australia over the next 12 months
Q. Over the next 12 months do you think economic conditions in Australia will get better, get worse or stay much the same?
1 Dec 08 23 Feb 09 18 May 09 15 Jun 09 6 Jul 09 21 Aug 09 5 Oct 09 18 Jan 10 Total better 21% 19% 25% 43% 50% 55% 66% 53% Total worse 61% 65% 56% 37% 31% 23% 15% 19% Get a lot better 2% 2% 2% 5% 7% 9% 8% 9% Get a little better 19% 17% 23% 38% 43% 46% 58% 44% Get a little worse 45% 42% 37% 28% 23% 17% 11% 14% Get a lot worse 16% 23% 19% 9% 8% 6% 4% 5% Stay much the same 13% 12% 13% 17% 15% 18% 15% 24% No opinion 5% 4% 5% 3% 4% 3% 4% 4% Just over half (53%) of those surveyed think that over the next 12 months, economic conditions in Australia will get better, 19% think they will get worse, and 24% think conditions will get much the same.
The most significant differences since we last asked this question in October 2009 are in terms of a decrease in the number of people that think conditions will get better (-13%), and an increase in the number that think economic conditions will stay the same (+9%).
Males were more likely than females to think economic conditions will get better over the next 12 months (59% v 47%).
Labor voters were more likely than Coalition voters to think conditions will get better (65% v 47%). Coalition voters were more likely to think conditions will get worse (28%).
People aged 18 – 24 were more likely than those aged 55 years and over to think that economic conditions will improve over the next 12 months (61% v 52%). Comments »
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Australian jobs, economic conditions, economy, job security, jobs
Job security
Q. How concerned are you that you or some member of your immediate family will lose their job in the next year or so: very concerned, somewhat concerned, or not at all concerned?
16 Feb 09 27 Apr 09 8 Jun 09 6 Jul 09 31 Aug 09 5 Oct 09 18 Jan 10 Total concerned 62% 67% 52% 56% 53% 49% 45% Very concerned 22% 24% 13% 15% 18% 14% 12% Somewhat concerned 40% 43% 39% 41% 35% 35% 33% Not at all concerned 29% 23% 35% 32% 37% 40% 40% Don’t know 4% 5% 6% 6% 5% 6% 8% No employees in the immediate family 5% 5% 8% 6% 5% 5% 8% 45% of people are very/somewhat concerned that they or a member of their immediate family will lose their job in the next year or so, 40% are not concerned at all. This is the lowest level of concern regarding job loss that has been recorded in the Essential Report since we began tracking this question in February 2009.
Females were more likely than males to be very/somewhat concerned over job loss (47% v 41%).
People in part-time work were more likely than those in full-time work to be concerned over job loss (55% v 45%).
Coalition voters were more likely than Labor voters to be very/somewhat concerned (52% v 43%). Comments »
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Australian economy, economic conditions, economy, EMC, ER, essential report, Interest rates
Interest Rate Rises and the Economy
Q. Do you think the recent increase in official interest rates indicates that Australia’s economy is getting better or getting worse?
% Economy is getting better 53% Economy is getting worse 12% Neither 28% Don’t know 7% Just over half (53%) think the recent increase in official interest rates indicates that Australia’s economy is getting better, 12% think it is an indication that the economy is getting worse and 28% think it is not a sign that the economy is getting better or worse.
Labor voters were more likely to think the interest rate rise is a sign that the economy is getting better (61%), while Coalition voters were a little more likely than the average to think that it is a sign that the economy is getting worse (18%). 48% of Coalition voters think that the recent interest rate increase is a sign that the economy is getting better.
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economic conditions, economic issues, economy, EMC, ER, essential report, Green, Labor, Liberal
Economic Conditions in Australia
Q. Over the next 12 months do you think economic conditions in Australia will get better, get worse or stay much the same?
Just over half (53%) think that over the next 12 months, economic conditions in Australia will get better, 23% think they will get worse and 21% think they will stay much the same.
The number of people that think economic conditions in Australia will get better over the next 12 months has decreased thirteen percentage points since we last asked this question in October this year, and the number that think economic conditions will get worse has increased eight percentage points. However, the current results are very similar to the August survey results and considerably more positive than results recorded up to June.
Labor voters were more likely to think economic conditions will get better (65%), Coalition voters were more likely to think they will get worse (30%) and Green voters were more likely to think conditions will stay much the same (34%).
People earning $1600 per week or more were more likely to think economic conditions will get better (60%), while people earning $600 – $1000 per week were more likely to think they will get worse (32%).