Australia opens immigration doors wider

<p>Kia ora,</p><p>Welcome to Tuesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.</p><p>I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.</p><p>Today we lead with news Australia is opening its doors wider to immigrants to address sharp skills demand.</p><p>But first, a reminder that the US is on a long holiday weekend, MLK Day, and financial markets are closed there today.</p><p>In Canada, the <a href="https://www.crea.ca/media-hub/news/canadian-home-sales-edge-up-to-end-2022/" target="_blank"><strong>final data for 2022</strong></a> shows house prices there fell the most on record for any year, down -12%. Their average dwelling price is now C$626,400 (NZ$732,300). Sales volumes there fell -39%. The New Zealand REINZ December data will be released here tomorrow morning.</p><p>And staying in Canada, business sentiment continued to weaken in the fourth quarter and sales grew slower as their downturn bites according to <a href="https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2023/01/business-outlook-survey-fourth-quarter-of-2022/" target="_blank"><strong>a central bank survey</strong></a>. But firms there still only expect a mild retreat with inflation staying higher for longer.</p><p>In Japan, the inflation pressure is still building. Their <a href="https://www.boj.or.jp/statistics/pi/cgpi_release/cgpi2212.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>producer prices surged +10.2%</strong></a> year-on-year in December, exceeding market expectations for a +9.5% rise as high global commodity prices and a historically weak yen continued to inflate costs for imported raw materials. December’s producer inflation also accelerated from an upwardly revised +9.7% price growth in November to the highest in three months. The November to December rate was at an annualised pace of +6.0%, so that suggests a possible easing is at hand.</p><p>Japanese <a href="https://www.jmtba.or.jp/wp-content/uploads/sokuhou2212fvhsd.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>machine tool orders rose</strong></a> unex