Author Archive: Andrew Bridger
Manufacturing Jobs in Australia: long-term trends and the impact of COVID-19


The COVID-19 pandemic has directly affected all industries, businesses, and workers in Australia throughout 2020. The Government’s response to the pandemic has highlighted the central role of manufacturing in recovering from this event and its importance in bolstering Australia’s economic…
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Nothing to fear from debt and deficit


The 2020-21 Budget forecasts gross government debt to hit $1 trillion in the next year. In the coming months, we will undoubtedly see numerous stories about the need to get government debt back under control. A large proportion of Australians…
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The COVID recession: How does Australia compare with other countries?
Australia had the highest minimum wage in the world in 2019


The OECD recently updated its comparison of global minimum wages for all countries that have a national minimum wage. In 2019, Australia overtook Luxembourg as having the highest minimum wage in the world. In the previous year’s comparison, Australia had…
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Australia’s changing retail landscape in five charts


The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) recently released its estimates for retail sales in December. Nominal retail sales fell 0.5% over the month after seasonal adjustments. This fall mostly reflects the transfer of pre-Christmas sales from the usual shopping peak…
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The CPI: what’s more expensive (and cheaper) than a decade ago?


Inflation data was recently released for the last quarter of 2019, closing out the most recent decade of price changes. This Data Story illustrates how the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is composed and what goods and services have become more…
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Australia’s waste: where does it come from – and where does it go?



Australians generate a lot of rubbish, as do the people of all advanced economies (and increasingly, the people of less advanced and developing economies). In 2016-17, Australian businesses and households generated 68.9 mega tonnes (Mt) of waste, from a vast…
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Youth unemployment in Australia


Young people in Australia experience higher levels of unemployment than the rest of the population. This is for a variety of reasons including a perceived or real lack of experience and skills, a mismatch between the supply and demand of…
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The Three Ps of Economic Growth


Australia’s sluggish economic performance in late 2018 has continued into early 2019. In the first quarter of 2019, economic growth slowed to just 1.8% over the year. This is the slowest rate of economic growth since the height of the…
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