Australian companies increased business activity for the first time in four months during May amid signs of a pickup in demand following a recent soft patch. New orders rose at the fastest pace in 2019 so far. Firms took on extra staff after reducing employment during April, while business confidence improved. On the price front, both input costs and output prices increased at sharper rates than were recorded in April. The headline figure derived from the survey is the Commonwealth Bank of Australia Flash Composite Output Index, which is designed to provide timely indications of changes in output in the Australian ... (full story)