An index monitoring business confidence in Australia saw a score of +5 in November, the latest survey from National Australia Bank revealed on Tuesday.
That's down from the upwardly revised +6 in October (originally +5).
The index for business conditions showed improvement in November but remained negative, rising to -3 from -4 in the previous month.
"The slight improvement in business conditions reflected better profitability and trading conditions, which have been steadily improving since mid-year, although these were largely offset by a significant deterioration in employment conditions," NAB said in a statement. "Nonetheless, each of these components remained below average levels."
A key drag was the employment component, which fell to -8 from -3 in October.
Among other individual components, mining and manufacturing moved sharply higher on a weaker Australian dollar, NAB said.
Moving lower were finance, real estate, utilities and transportation.
Also on Tuesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that the total number of owner-occupied home loans in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 1.0 percent in October compared to the previous month, standing at 52,305.
That was in line with expectations following the downwardly revised 3.5 percent monthly gain in September (originally 4.4 percent).
The value of loans added 1.7 percent on month to A$16.185 billion following the upwardly revised 6.2 percent surge in the previous month (originally 5.3 percent).
The value of investment lending spiked 8.2 percent on month to A$10.300 billion following the upwardly revised 6.5 percent jump a month earlier.
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