February 2024 showed further evidence of a slowdown in consumer spending according to the CommBank Household Spending Insights series. A fall of 0.3%/mth occurred in February, with the peak in the index occurring in November 2023. There was evidence of a Taylor Swift, and other musical acts induced lift in spending with parts of Recreation and Hospitality seeing a strong increase. However other essential parts of the spending basket continue to lift, including Utilities and Health. Stephen Halmarick, Chief Economist, and Belinda Allen, Senior Economist discuss the results and touch of the Q4 23 GDP results and outlook for the Reserve Bank of Australia.

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