A change of government last year appears to have hurt both business and employment confidence, according to two surveys released yesterday.
The influential quarterly survey of business opinion delivered a cautionary tale of businesses' economic conditions, expected to deteriorate in the first half of 2018.
Business confidence fell in the September and December quarters, and uncertainty over new government policies have made businesses even more downbeat.
Employment confidence rose slightly in December but private sector confidence dropped sharply as public sector confidence rose.
It seemed clear the sentiment of various categories of employees has been influenced by the outcome of the September election.
