The Sydney lockdown is now in its fourth week with restrictions tightened further on the weekend. In this Weekly we update our estimates of the impact of these recent lockdowns.

The Aussie dollar is under pressure because of global market uncertainty over COVID says NAB’s Rodrigo Catril on today’s podcast.

COVID-19 remains the most significant risk for our global outlook. While in Australia, the current virus outbreak in NSW and associated lockdowns/border closures highlights the uncertainty around economic forecasting at present.

China’s economy grew largely as expected in Q2, but imbalance between production and consumption persists.

There’s more caution in the markets today, even though numbers out of Australia, the US and China were better than expected. There’s a bit of battle fatigue hitting the market says NAB’s David de Garis.

More inflation signals with the RBNZ moving towards rate rises. NAB’s Gavin Friend says there are no signs that other central banks will be following in a hurry.

US inflation has surprised again, up even higher than last month. But NAB’s Tapas Strickland says the indications are that it’s still transitory.

One, two, three: Can China counter its demographic drag by raising its birth rate?

There are now less than two unemployed people for every job vacancy in Australia, a record low for this ratio.