Article: As credit crunch bites, pushbikes are outselling cars in Australia

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

As credit crunch bites, pushbikes are outselling cars in Australia

As credit crunch bites, pushbikes are outselling cars in Australia
Article from: The Courier-Mail

John McCarthy

January 06, 2009 11:00pm

AUSTRALIAN businesses and consumers, braced for bad times, are continuing to buy more pushbikes than cars in a sign of things to come.
Data released yesterday revealed that - for the ninth consecutive year - consumers bought more bicycles than cars.

Bike sales last calendar year reached 1.4 million, just 2 per cent down on the record 1.42 million sold in 2007.

That far outstripped the 1 million auto sales over the same period.

Car sales have dropped significantly from record highs and tourism accommodation takings fell for the first time in four years in the September quarter.

Business conditions and sales were also at the lowest level since 1998.

House price expectations in Australia had also hit rock bottom, with a quarter of people believing their property had lost value in the past year.

Profits have plunged to their lowest level since 2001, but a key indicator also showed that a recession was a fair way off despite the bad news.

And some economists still believe the country will skirt the worst effects of the global meltdown and avoid recession because of the Government's $10 billion handout, the interest rate cuts and the slump in petrol prices.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said its survey showed businesses had become "increasingly pessimistic" and expected further job losses.

However, finding suitable staff was still one of the biggest issues facing employers.

In a sign of the confusing times, employers in the mining-dependent city of Mackay are still calling on housewives to enter the workforce because of a skills shortage despite big job losses in nearby coal fields.

The ACCI survey showed about a quarter of businesses expected to have fewer full-time employees and the index that measured employment demand was now on a par with the 2001 slowdown.

The Australian Industry Group also announced the important services sector - which covers areas such as tourism, finance, transport and health care - was in serious trouble following the ninth consecutive month of decline.

The AIG said businesses were relying more on stockpiles rather than producing more goods for sale.

The Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia research also found almost 60 per cent of people believed there would be a decline in property values in the next quarter.

"This is the most pessimistic response we have had in relation to property price expectations since we commenced the Home Finance Index in June 2006," chief executive Phil Naylor said.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries said 37,000 fewer vehicles were sold last year compared to the record-breaking year of 2007.

[ButFli]

It should be mandatory for all employers to provide showers and bike parking for their employees. I am lucky because the building in which I work has showering facilities and secure bike parking. I pity the unwahsed masses (pun intended) that do not have access to such facilities.