Sydney

AUSTRALIAN companies and consumers are divided as never before over their judgement of the nation's economy.

Business confidence is powering along and conditions - a measure of hiring, sales and profits - hit a post-2008 crisis high. But consumer sentiment remains in the doldrums. Pessimists outnumbered optimists for an eighth-straight month, data showed on Wednesday, as heavily indebted households struggle with stagnant wages to make ends meet.