5  •  Unexpected political developments in Europe, the UK and the US that substantially increased uncertainty, although measures of financial market volatility remain close to 25 year lows.
6  Back home, New Zealand experienced: •  The strongest migration surge since the 1860s (equivalent to a 6 percent increase in the working-age population since 2012) and the labour force participation rate reached historically high levels. 7 8  •  A long period of negative tradables inflation – probably the longest since the Great Depression.