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A man accused of murdering a teenager during a group brawl has had his bail revoked over an alleged incident that saw three people stabbed and their dog killed.

Alex Edward Deng, 20, was one of 13 men charged over the alleged stabbing death of 19-year-old Girum Mekonnen in Brisbane's north on September 13, 2020.

Deng has been on bail since October 2020 while his case, which includes his 12 co-defendants, has slowly made its way through the committal process.

Earlier this month, Deng was one of three people charged over an alleged robbery of a $2000 scooter that had been advertised on social media.

The incident on July 2 at a home in Brisbane's southwest later escalated into a backyard brawl involving knives, shovels and a machete, police said.

Police alleged Deng was part of a group that attempted to pay for the scooter with counterfeit cash and then left the property only to return hours later to smash the home's rear glass doors and stab a dog to entice the victims outside.

Crown prosecutor Steven Dickson told Brisbane Supreme Court on Tuesday that it was in the interests of justice to revoke Deng's bail.

"There have been alleged further offences of wounding, cruelty to animals and possessing counterfeit money and dangerous drugs ... the (bail) conditions no longer reduce the risk to an acceptable level," Mr Dickson said.

Deng's solicitor, Rodney Keyte, told the court he did not want to speak against the application to revoke bail.

Justice Martin Burns agreed that Deng should be held on remand.

"The bail granted to Alex Edward Deng is revoked forthwith," Justice Burns said.

© AAP 2023

Renters have regained some optimism as the ultra-competitive market starts to cool.

Weekly confidence levels tracked by ANZ and Roy Morgan have surged 7.9 points for those renting, helping to push the overall consumer index up 2.6 points.

The elevated cost of living and interest rate hikes have been keeping consumer confidence at historically low levels.

The index has been stuck below 80 points for 21 weeks in a row, well under the 111.1 monthly average since 1990.

ANZ senior economist Adelaide Timbrell said renter confidence may have improved off the back of easing pace of growth in rents.

Advertised rents have been rising fast but the latest housing data suggests vacancy rates have started to lift and the rate of growth is slowing.

Ms Timbrell said discussions about government rental policies may be playing a role.

Weekly inflation expectations fell 0.2 percentage points to 5.4 per cent, with the four-week moving average sinking to 5.6 per cent from 5.7 per cent.

Cost of living pressures may be starting to subside but there will be more pain to come.

The Albanese government has held off calls to support households further despite tracking towards a stronger than expected budget surplus.

Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh said an "unfunded cash splash" would put upward pressure on prices and fuel inflation.

He said the government was focused on providing targeted cost of living relief that would not throw the Reserve Bank off course.

"We're constantly looking at what we can do to assist the most vulnerable, but at the same time, you need to make sure that fiscal and monetary policy are working together," Dr Leigh said.

Asked if lifting the Jobseeker welfare payment would constitute a cash splash, he said the government lifted the rate in the last budget.

"Every Labor budget looks carefully at the rate of Jobseeker," Dr Leigh said.

Welfare advocates have been critical of the $40 a fortnight increase to the Jobseeker payment and argued it would not do enough to ease pressures on the most vulnerable.

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Finding staff remains a challenge but a surge in international arrivals has improved labour supply and could support the slowing economy.

HSBC economist Paul Bloxham said the effect of reopened borders in late 2021 was still playing out and creating uncertainty for the Reserve Bank in tackling inflation.

"One of the really fundamental things that happened was we closed the border and we reopened the border and that's had some very large effects on how the economy operates," he told AAP.

"It's actually made it really hard for the economic models we use to deal with."

The resilience of the labour market, which has been strong for several months, has been a source of confusion given there have been 12 interest rate hikes since May last year.

The economist explained it took time for slowing economic activity and less demand for goods and services to translate into fewer hires or lay-offs.

He said this was common across most downturn cycles and the opposite was true as things improved, with businesses taking a while to bring on recruits as demand ramped up.

Mr Bloxham said this economic cycle had a few abnormalities, including the effect of reopened borders on migration numbers, boosting labour supply.

For the Reserve Bank, a weakening of the labour market and subsequent wage pressures could help support the economy.

"That would give us the softest of economic landings because it wouldn't be about firms cutting back on workers or laying off workers, it would be about firms having ample supply of workers - and that means you take the heat out of the economy from the supply side," Mr Bloxham said.

"This could also create less risk for financial stability, if many workers that have mortgages retain their jobs."

The pandemic-influenced labour market may also be exaggerating the lagging effect by prompting employers to hang onto workers who were so hard to recruit.

But with so much uncertainty hanging over how the economy is responding, Mr Bloxham said it was very hard to tell if the RBA had already hiked interest rates enough or needed to do more.

The influence of the migration boom - and this impact on labour and housing markets - may be reaching an inflection point, with the supply of arrivals likely to ease after the catch-up period of the last year.

AMP economist Shane Oliver said it was important to remember unemployment and inflation were lagging indicators and would react after economic activity moved in one direction or another.

The group's leading indicator of jobs growth, based on vacancies and hiring plans, is pointing to a sharp slowdown ahead.

"Still low unemployment and still high inflation are not that unusual despite slowing growth because they both normally lag big swings in the economic cycle - running the economy with too much focus on them is a bit like driving a car with the rear-view mirror," Dr Oliver said.

He said the RBA needed to tread carefully and allow the lags to work through or risk pushing up unemployment higher than needed.

"Fortunately, the minutes from the last RBA board meeting suggests it's aware of the risks," Dr Oliver said.

© AAP 2023