Economy Talk

Why does Australia report inflation in three different ways?

Reading the GONOM piece about Australia's inflation, I noticed something interesting. The Guardian focused on September's annual rate of 4.3%. The RBA's preferred underlying measure was 3.6%. And the quarterly series shows 3.9% annually.

The article explains these are all correct but measure different things. In Korea we mostly talk about one headline consumer price figure, so I'm curious how Australians deal with three numbers in daily life. Does the public follow which one matters? Or does everyone just remember the biggest one?

Also, traders priced an 85% chance of a rate hike from the 4.6% cash rate. A fifth rise in one year sounds very painful for mortgage holders. How do households there cope?