10 things you need to know this morning in Australia
James Hennessy
1.
It sounds like we're not getting an austerity budget in May. The SMH reports that Josh Frydenberg's first post-pandemic budget will "deliberately run the economy as fast as possible" in an attempt to get unemployment under 5%. The government reportedly believes unemployment needs to get to about 4% to get inflation and wages to accelerate. Sounds like an election budget, no?
2.
Australia appears to have pushed through the end of JobKeeper, as job openings continue to grow unabated. Exclusive data from Indeed shows the number of advertised positions kept on soaring throughout April and are now 43.1% higher than they were prior to the pandemic. “The longer these hiring trends persist the greater the likelihood of stronger wage growth, particularly in those areas where skill-shortages are emerging,” Asia-Pacific economist Callam Pickering said.