Australia NAB business confidence rose from -12 to 3 in January, turned positive. Business conditions, however, dropped from 8 to 3. Looking at some details, trading conditions dropped from 14 to 7. Profitability conditions dropped from 10 to 2. Employment conditions dropped from 2 to -1 and turned negative.
“Overall, the January survey shows significant disruption to business activity from the spread of the Omicron variant, albeit impacts on businesses were less severe than in past outbreaks,”said NAB Group Chief Economist Alan Oster. “However, we continue to expect a strong recovery as case numbers come down.”