‘Bit of a conundrum’: contradictory economic signs make RBA rate prophecies difficult

A Westpac survey shows consumer sentiment as dim as during the depths of the global financial crisis and the worst of the Covid pandemic. Photograph: David Gray/Reuters

Is the Australian economy on a recessionary knife-edge or holding up well despite a dozen domestic interest rate rises and those global headwinds we’ve been hearing all about?

A slew of economic surveys, including several out on Tuesday, point to contradictory trends that signal either deepening despair or remarkable resilience.