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1. It sounds like we’re not getting an austerity budget in May. The SMH reports that Josh Frydenberg’s first post-pandemic budget will “deliberately run the economy as fast as possible” in an attempt to get unemployment under 5%. The government reportedly believes unemployment needs to get to about 4% to get inflation and wages to accelerate. Sounds like an election budget, no?

2. Australia appears to have pushed through the end of JobKeeper, as job openings continue to grow unabated. Exclusive data from Indeed shows the number of advertised positions kept on soaring throughout April and are now 43.1% higher than they were prior to the pandemic. “The longer these hiring trends persist the greater the likelihood of stronger wage growth, particularly in those areas where skill-shortages are emerging,” Asia-Pacific economist Callam Pickering said.

3. There’s more promising news too. New figures released by the Australian Banking Association (ABA) show less than 5,000 loan deferrals remain outstanding across Australian businesses and households. However, the amount of deferred debt is still significant. In separate figures provided to Business Insider Australia, those borrowers are behind on more than $1.33 billion worth of mortgages still deferred, for an average debt of $410,000 per loan.

4. Sydney has ranked as one of the most affordable ‘gateway’ cities in the Western world for wealthy Chinese investors looking to move. Data from Chinese real estate platform Juwai IQI shows Sydney remains globally competitive when vying for foreign investment, with the city costing around $3.15 million on average to maintain a certain comfortable lifestyle. The insight comes after the Morrison government began to quietly fast-track investor visas, which have overwhelmingly gone to rich Chinese nationals.

5. But you could be forgiven for thinking it’s not that affordable at all. Sydney house prices have soared to a record-breaking median of $1.3 million, according to Domain. That’s an increase of more than $100,000 in the first three months of this year. It is the fastest quarterly growth since Domain records began in 1993.

6. Australia may receive doses of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine by August or September, blowing past initial estimates. Speaking before the Senate Select Committee on Tuesday, Health Department Secretary Professor Brendan Murphy said the company is “confident” it can deliver those doses by Q3. Supply chain issues have hamstrung the manufacturer, which the Health Department initially hoped would deliver as early as the first half of 2021.

7. Consulting giant Ernst & Young has secured the top spot on LinkedIn Australia’s 2021 Top Companies list. The Big Four giant earned plaudits for not enforcing redundancies through 2020, and offering to reimburse staff who underwent paycuts. The list recognised 25 companies LinkedIn believes offer strong career progression and opportunities to staff.

8. Coles’ supermarket sales fell for the first time in more than 50 quarters as food spending receded following last year’s pandemic surge. That party was always going to end. Same-store supermarket sales fell 6.4% in the three months ending March after growing 13.1% in the same quarter last year. Coles chief executive Steve Cain said trading appeared to be returning to more normal patterns and customers were starting to return to CBD stores and shopping centres.

9. Apple reported $89.5 billion in revenue for the second quarter, smashing estimates. Analysts were expecting $77.3 billion. That includes $47.9 billion in iPhone sales as the iPhone 12 lineup remains a hit. iPhone production wasn’t impacted by the global chip shortage, but MacBooks and iPads reportedly are.

10. Facebook’s first-quarter earnings also topped Wall Street expectations. Revenue grew 48% year-over-year to $26.17 billion from $17.44 billion, with an earning of $3.30 per share. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $2.35 per share and revenue of $23.73 billion, according to a poll by FactSet. Shares rose as much as 6% in late trading following the release.

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