Bad Santa appears in some data

Advertisement

The CBA Business Sales Index Report:

 The Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Indicator (BSI) – a measure of economy-wide spending – rose by 0.4 per cent in trend terms in December after similar increases in both October and November.

 But as previously highlighted, sales at combined retail and clothing stores remain soft, down by 0.4 per cent in trend terms in December – the weakest result in 6½ years.

 Annual trend growth of the BSI eased from 6.4 per cent to 6.1 per cent in December.

 The more volatile seasonally-adjusted measure of the BSI fell by 0.4 per cent in December after rising by 0.9 per cent in November. Growth in spending has averaged 0.4 per cent a month over the past year.

 The Commonwealth Bank BSI is obtained by tracking the value of credit and debit card transactions processed through the Commonwealth Bank merchant facilities. And in line with the Bureau of Statistics, seasonally adjusted and trend estimates of the BSI are obtained by applying statistical software. The seasonally adjusted and trend BSI results permit analysis of the broader underlying trends that may be hidden in the raw data.

 Across sectors, 16 of the 19 industry sectors rose in trend terms in December. The biggest lift in sales occurred at Automobiles & Vehicles (up 1.7 per cent) from Transportation (up 1.4 per cent), Amusement & Entertainment (up 1.2 per cent) and Business Services (up 1.1 per cent).

 On the other side of the equation, sales fell in Mail Order/Telephone Order Providers (down 2.5 per cent), Retail Stores (down 0.5 per cent) and Airlines (down 0.1 per cent).

 The lift in spending by Business Services equalled the spending gain in November and was the strongest increase in a year, reflecting positive survey results on the sector.

 In annual terms in December all but two of the 19 industry sectors recorded gains. Spending fell most at Mail Order/Telephone Order Providers (down 5.5 per cent) followed by Retail Stores (down 0.4 per cent).

 At the other end of the scale, sectors with the strongest annual growth in December included Amusement & Entertainment (up 15.0 per cent), Utilities (up 13.6 per cent) and Airlines (up 12.7 per cent).

 Across all states and territories in December, sales were stronger except NSW (down 0.3 per cent). Strongest growth occurred in Northern Territory (up by 1.5 per cent) followed by South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania (all up 1.0 per cent); Victoria and Western Australia (both up 0.9 per cent) and ACT (up 0.7 per cent).

 In annual terms all states and territories had sales above a year ago. Strongest growth was Northern Territory (up 14.8 per cent) from Queensland (up 10.3 per cent); South Australia (up 9.5 per cent), Tasmania (up 8.1 per cent); Western Australia (up 7.8 per cent); Victoria (up 7.5 per cent); ACT (up 7.4 per cent); and NSW (up 2.2 per cent).

I don’t find this series useful for anything so just sayin’.

About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.