The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) this morning released the retail trade data for the month of July, which registered a “surprise” fall in retail sales that disappointed analyst’s expectations.
In seasonally adjusted terms, retail sales fell by -0.8% in the month of July to be up by 3.5% year-on-year. Analysts had predicted a rise of 0.2% for the month. However, on a more positive note, last month’s retail sales were revised upwards from an increase of 1.0% to 1.2%.
Below is a chart summarising the monthly and annual growth rates by industry on a seasonally adjusted basis:
As you can see, department stores continued to bear the brunt of the declines, whereas household goods retailing experienced solid growth over the month.
At the state level, retail sales were down across the board. Over the year, Western Australia continues to dominate, whereas sales growth in Tasmania and Victoria are in the doldrums:
Overall, it’s a fairly weak result, although probably not that unexpected given that the previous month’s results were positively impacted by the one-off compensation payments for the introduction of the carbon tax.
Twitter: Leith van Onselen. Leith is the Chief Economist of Macro Investor, Australia’s independent investment newsletter covering trades, stocks, property and yield. Click for a free 21 day trial.
