Australia: Retail sales keep expanding in July
Nominal retail sales in July rose 3.2% over the previous month in seasonally-adjusted terms, following June’s somewhat softer 2.7% increase.
July’s rise was broad-based. Particularly pronounced increases were recorded in clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing; cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services; household goods retailing; department stores.
In annual terms, retail sales jumped 12.8% in July, following June’s 8.6% expansion and marking the strongest increase since mid-2001. Meanwhile, annual average growth in retail sales rose from 3.2% in June to 4.0% in July.