Aussies cash flow in the green as unemployment rate falls

The fact that Australians are more likely to meet their expenses without having to dip into their savings may come as a surprise against a background of ongoing high unemployment, but that's the latest from an RFi survey conducted in July 2013.

According to a survey from RFi conducted in July 2013, Australians were significantly less likely to need to dip into their savings to meet everyday living expenses than they had been in November 2012.

In fact, the proportion of Australian savers who have dipped into their savings in order to fund their lifestyle sits at its lowest level. Only 57% of savers surveyed by RFi in July had dipped into their savings to fund their lifestyle, which was significantly lower than the 60% who had done so in November 2012.

These findings align with labour force statistics released yesterday showing the unemployment rate has fallen to a surprise 5.6% The Australian economy generated an addition 9100 job in September as the unemployment rate slipped from Augusts four-year high of 5.8%

Amongst the new jobs creates in September, full-time positions rose by 5000 while part-time jobs increased by 4100.

Despite the influx of new jobs, the proportion of savers whose primary savings goal was to be prepared for 'unexpected expenses' has been steadily decreasing.

The banking industry also saw as corresponding decrease in the growth of deposit books. According to Apra data, Bank retail deposits increased by only 0.3% in July at an annualised rate of 3.6%, which is much lower than the average rate of 8-9% seen over the past few years. This decrease in growth may largely be due to the Reserve Banks recent cash rate cuts that caused a fall in interest rate returns possible through savings accounts.

RFi research has also shown that the average number of savings accounts per saver has increased in 2012 but remained steady through 2013 suggesting that current savers have been disinclined to open new savings accounts.

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