Retail sales are up 0.3%

The ABS October retail turnover figures show sales continue to be sluggish. In October retail sales were up 0.3 per cent, after a fall of 0.2 per cent in September and 0.5 per cent growth in August.

 

“Retail sales have only grown by 0.6 per cent in the three months to October and worse still, these figures don’t capture the effect of the three rate rises,” Australian National Retailers Association CEO Margy Osmond said today.

 

“These lacklustre figures don’t bode well for the Christmas season, especially with the Reserve Bank playing Scrooge with interest rates.”

 

Department stores have rebounded this month, up 1.9 per cent but food sales remain flat, falling 0.1 per cent. Cafes and restaurants grew 1.1 per cent. Household goods retailing were up only 01 per cent, while sales in clothing, footwear and other personal accessory retailing fell by 0.2 per cent.

 

NSW is outstripping the other states, up 1.2 per cent. Victoria is down 0.9 per cent, QLD down 0.2 per cent, South Australia is unchanged, Western Australia is up 0.9 per cent, Tasmania up 1.5 per cent, the Northern Territory up 1.8 per cent while the ACT fell 0.6 per cent.