Economic pressures are getting real for people this year, as higher mortgage rates continue to suck more money out of household budgets, and a swathe of recent job losses undermine income security. Infometrics’ latest economic forecasts show annual GDP and private consumption spending growth briefly turning negative in mid-2024, and for slower growth than had previously been expected to persist until the second half of next year. Record high net migration means that per-capita results look even worse, with household spending recording its biggest decline per person since 1992 (excluding the 2020 lockdown).
