Finder’s Economic Positivity Index

Tracking the outlook Finder's panel of economic experts.

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By

Saranga Sudarshan

Updated

Fact checked

Key takeaways

  • Finder's Economic Positivity Index is slightly down by 1%.
  • 9% of Finder’s panel on average had a positive view of the economy.

The main reason for the index's rise is that 21% of experts are now optimistic about housing affordability, a notable increase from just 4% last month.

Meanwhile, optimism about wage growth dropped from 10% to 7%, positivity around the cost of living decreased from 21% to 3%, and views on employment fell from 14% to 7%. Meanwhile, optimism about household debt increased to 7% from 0%, with no economists expressing optimism in that area.

Finder's Graham Cooke highlighted that, "The last few months have shown the only significant upward trend in economic sentiment since early 2022, when average positivity peaked at 38% in March 2022. No experts had a positive outlook on household debt or housing affordability, which is understandable amid a high-interest cost of living crisis. Despite potential cash rate cuts in 2024, renters and first-time home buyers should expect more economic challenges."

What is the Finder Economic Positivity Index?

Finder's Economic Positivity Index is a monthly measure of how the economists on Finder's RBA cash rate panel view the outlook for the Australian economy across 5 broad categories. It provides a snapshot of the consensus positive sentiment of economic experts on the Australian economy as a whole over the next 6 months.

The index is collated from over 3,400 responses to Finder's RBA cash rate survey since March 2018. It is produced by analysing data collected across 5 categories:

  • Employment
  • Wage growth
  • Housing affordability
  • Cost of living
  • Household debt

Each category is measured with a question that asks whether the economist has a positive, neutral or negative outlook over the following 6 months. These responses are then collated into a consensus opinion, then averaged to form the final positivity index.

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Analyst

Saranga Sudarshan was an insights analyst at Finder. He has a PhD from the University of St Andrews in political philosophy. Previously he was a research analyst at Frost & Sullivan. Saranga loves cricket, sports analytics and the way data can provide novel insights. See full bio

Saranga's expertise
Saranga has written 22 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Personal finance
  • Data analysis
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