Glimmer of hope for mortgage holders as Australia’s inflation rate slips to lowest monthly level for two years

Inflation fell faster than expected in the 12 months to November, largely as retailers cut prices as part of the Black Friday sale.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ consumer price index for November was 4.3 percent annually, up from 4.9 percent in October.

The result was lower than consensus expectations of a 4.5 percent price increase.

It is the first time since January 2022 that monthly inflation has fallen below 4.9 percent.

ABS head of prices statistics Michelle Marquardt said the main contributors to rising prices were housing, food and non-alcoholic drinks, insurance and financial services and alcohol and tobacco.

“The Commonwealth Rent Assistance increase has reduced out-of-pocket rental costs for eligible tenants since it was introduced on September 20, 2023,” Ms Marquardt said on Wednesday.

“Excluding these changes to rental assistance, rents would have increased by 8.8 percent over the year through November.”

The inflation data followed a jump in retail sales for November, with Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday discounts boosting sales by 2 percent, after a 0.4 percent decline the month before.

The November CPI release also included several indicators of all-important services inflation, such as takeaway food and leisure services.

The Reserve Bank is concerned about high inflation in the services sector as it is mainly influenced by domestic rather than international factors.

RBA Governor Michele Bullock in November pointed to price rises in services such as hairdressing and dining out as a sign that the inflation problem was now homegrown, rather than imported.

The figures will undoubtedly figure in the thoughts of the Reserve Bank board ahead of their next cash rate meeting in February, although the quarterly CPI data due on January 31 will show a wider range of prices and a will play a greater role in their decision-making.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said inflation is declining, but not as quickly as the government would like.

A World Bank warning that the global economy would experience the slowest growth in 30 years in the first half of the 2020s should serve as a wake-up call against economic complacency, Dr Chalmers said.

“Our job in Australia is not to make this decade a wasted decade, but a defining decade to modernize our economy and maximize our benefits,” he told ABC Radio on Wednesday.