“It seems that heavy discounting succeeded in clearing unwanted inventory, but only in some areas of retailing and at the expense of retailers' profit margins.”
“The fall in employment is a good indicator that things are pretty tough. The economy faces some stiff headwinds from the central bank's interest-rate increases and that's going to be showing up in the employment market, the housing market and consumer spending.”
“Parts of the economy are still doing well, with mining booming and that's generating jobs. I do think that employment growth will slow this year and that will be enough to keep the central bank on the sidelines.”