The six month annualised deviation from trend growth rate in the Westpac–Melbourne Institute Leading Index , which indicates the likely pace of economic activity three to nine months in the future, declined from +0.19% in April to –0.02% in May. Westpac Senior Economist, Matthew Ha ssan commented, “The Australian economy appears to have suffered a loss of momentum . After a promisi ng start with four months of above-trend reads, the Leading I ndex growth rate has effectively dropped back to zero in May indicating a more s ubdued growth pulse in line with long run averages. “That still marks an improvement on 2014 ... (full story)