The total value of retail sales in Australia dipped a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent on month in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday – standing at A$25.611 billion.
That missed forecasts for an increase of 0.3 percent following the downwardly revised 0.1 percent gain in November (originally 0.2 percent).
There were falls in household goods retailing (-2.3 percent) and other retailing (-0.2 percent), while there were rises in food retailing (0.5 percent), clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (1.4 percent), cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (0.2 percent), and department stores (0.3 percent).
By region, there were falls in Victoria (-0.4 percent), New South Wales (-0.3 percent), and the Australian Capital Territory (-0.7 percent).
There were rises in South Australia (1.2 percent), Western Australia (0.6 percent), the Northern Territory (1.1 percent) and Tasmania (0.5 percent). Queensland was relatively unchanged.
For the fourth quarter of 2016, retail sales advanced 0.9 percent on quarter to A$74.985 billion.
That was in line with expectations following the 0.1 percent contraction in the three months prior.
Also on Monday:
• Consumer prices in Australia are forecast to have risen 0.6 percent on month in January, the latest survey from TD Securities and the Melbourne Institute revealed. That follows the 0.5 percent increase tipped for December.
On a yearly basis, inflation is expected to rise 2.1 percent after being pegged at 1.8 percent in the previous month.
The trimmed mean was called at 0.6 percent on month and 2.2 percent on year, up from 0.5 percent on month and 1.4 percent on year a month earlier.
• The total number of job ads in Australia was up 4.0 percent on month in January, the latest survey from ANZ Bank showed. That follows the downwardly revised 2.2 percent decline in December (originally -1.9 percent).
On a yearly basis, job ads jumped 7.1 percent after rising 3.7 percent in the previous month.
"The bounce in ANZ job ads, along with modest increases in other leading indicators, lends support to our view that although momentum in the labor market has slowed, it remains strong enough to underpin a gradual decline in the unemployment rate this year," said ANZ Senior Economist Felicity Emmet.
by RTT Staff Writer
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