And the RBA cash rate target was one of Howard's "record lows" - of 6.75%



Was Australia's unemployment rate close to the LOWEST in the WORLD, in November, 2007 ?

You guys must LOATHE the release of these figures - EVERY TIME

MANY Australian families may be struggling to make ends meet in the current economic environment but a new report says that

we are still much better off than in the previous decades

.

The latest AMP.NATSEM Income and Wealth Report shows Australian household income is outpacing the cost of living over the longer term, with disposable incomes increasing 20 per cent over the last 27 years.

It says the average family is better off by $224 per week in real terms.

But the report points out that since 1984 the cost of living has skyrocketed with everyday essentials such as electricity (up 253 per cent), petrol (208 per cent) and public transport costs (287 per cent) all soaring.

But those rises have been partially offset by dramatic drops in audio visual and computing, which now cost one tenth what they did in 1984, while average prices for clothing, footwear and major household appliances have changed little, and are often lower today than 27 years ago.

AMP Financial Services managing director Craig Meller said the report shows households today are more focused on lifestyles and aspirations than they were in the 80s.

"Many Australians are leading busier lives and facing greater demands on their time, which means we're now paying for things we may not have previously, such as childcare, gardening and housekeeping," Mr Meller said.

"We've also seen a noticeable shift in spending habits with people spending more on education, holidays and eating out.

"Essentially we seem to be leading bigger lifestyles, all of which can add to perceived cost of living pressures."

The report says incomes have outpaced the cost of living across the board since 1984 and couples with children have seen their income grow by 37 per cent, single parent incomes have grown 34 per cent, and working families 22 per cent.

Expenses for secondary students have grown by 264 per cent, mostly attributed to higher private school fees.

Maintaining good health has not come cheap either - medical, dental and insurance costs have increased at even greater rates, jumping 560 per cent, 356 per cent and 346 per cent respectively.





Unsurprisingly, Sydney is the most expensive city in Australia, and Adelaide is the cheapest.

Treasurer Wayne Swan will take into tonight’s budget a rare piece of good economic news - we appear to be returning to the shops.

After twelve months in which retail spending scarcely grew at all, inching ahead less than 0.2 per cent per month, in March sales jumped 0.9 per cent, enough to restore the annual increase to a healthy 3.7 per cent.

“It’s a picture of strength,” said Westpac economist Matthew Hassan. “Despite fragile consumer confidence, an out-of-cycle rate increase, a stuttering labour market, intensifying concerns over jobs, super-cheap imported goods available online and some indifferent summer weather, something has got consumers out and shopping.”

Even more impressive is the Bureau of Statistics measure of the volume of goods bought, which it calculates by subtracting changes in prices.

The Bureau says in the three months to March food sales jumped 2.5 per cent, clothing and shoe sales 3.2 per cent, and takeaway food and restaurant sales 3.9 per cent.

In each case the jump appears to have been spurred by lower prices, some dramatically lower. The Bureau says food prices slid 1.8 per cent in the three months to March, clothing and shoe prices 1.4 per cent and takeaway and restaurant food prices 0.5 per cent.

“It seems like lower prices had a lot to do with it,” said CommSec chief economist Criag James. “There has never been a bigger fall in retail prices in 30 years. A stronger Australian dollar, cheaper food, on-going innovation in technology goods, strong global competition and good old fashioned discounting have prompted Aussies to part with their cash again.”

The lift in retail sales comes ahead of the schoolkids bonus of $410 for each primary school child and $820 for each high school child due to go into more than one million bank accounts in June and the clean energy payments of between $87 and $110 per child due to go into the same accounts in May.

It also precedes the Reserve Bank’s 0.50 point interest rate cut... more than half of which will flow through to lower mortgage rates.

By STATE ...

The state-by-state jobless rates may also baffle some commentators.

Despite a slew of job losses in the manufacturing sector lately, the unemployment rate in Victoria plunged last month to 5.3 per cent from 5.8 per cent in March, seasonally adjusted, the ABS said.

New South Wales, the most populous state, saw the jobless rate tick higher to 4.9 per cent from 4.8 per cent in March.

ANZ's Mr Fabo dubbed the 23,000 jobs created in Victoria ‘‘pretty unbelievable’’ given other reports on the health of the state’s economy.

In Western Australia, the jobless rate slid to 3.8 per cent from 4.1 per cent over that time, while in Queensland, it dropped to 5.1 per cent from 5.5 per cent, the ABS said.

In South Australia the unemployment rate was steady at 5.2 per cent over the two-month period, while in Tasmania it soared to 8.3 per cent in April from 7 per cent in March, the ABS said