Retail sales rose 0.6% in January

By in Australian Economy

| 5 comments

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released preliminary retail sales for the month of January, which rose by 0.6% over the month to be up 10.7% year-on-year:

The next chart shows the monthly swings alongside the annual growth rate:

According to the ABS:

  • Following a fall of 4.1% in December 2020, there was a 0.6% rise in January 2021.
  • All states and territories rose, except for Queensland. NSW led the rises, up 1.0%, as Greater Sydney saw COVID-19 restrictions eased in January.
  • Queensland saw a fall of 1.5%, with COVID-19 restrictions in Brisbane leading to falls, especially across Household goods retailing, Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing, and Department stores.
  • There were mixed results across the industries. Food retailing led the rises, up 1.8% following a 1.7% fall in December 2020. Victoria and NSW led the rises in Supermarkets, after restrictions impacted Christmas celebrations in December 2020.
  • The rises were partially offset by falls in Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing, Household goods retailing, and Department stores, which were industries impacted by a three day lockdown in Brisbane.

The Australian economy continues to recover.

Unconventional Economist
Latest posts by Unconventional Economist (see all)

Comments

  1. Stewart Pide

    So consumer demand is 10% up ?

    We have just injected a $500 Billion stimulus package into the economy, $200 Billion in TFF funds, $50 Billion in early super. This was almost 100% of GDP prior to the 2009 stimulus packages.

    All spending at all levels of government stimulus was around 90% of GDP close to $1 Trillion….staggering. And we had a 10% increase on last year……

    No, seriously – real economy is BOOOOOOMING MATE !!

    Is this really what we are saying, 70-90% of GDP being printed and poured into the economy is a booming real economy or is it entirely fake and temporary blip.

    I have no idea whether people genuinely believe this or just or are just saying it to through gritted teeth.

    • Goldstandard1MEMBER

      Exactly….. people saved more, spent more, bought more, consumed more – because of money printing.
      Smart people are selling their property right now before April. Soaking up all that FOMO cashy cash and debty debt.

      Like many are saying here, the real economy shall reveal itself from April 1st. That will be no April fool’s joke.
      The reason the LIBS are going to put up the Jobseeker (and it will REALLY PAIN THEM to do so) is because over a million people will be transitioning from being KEEPERS, to SEEKERS. They have no choice.
      I wonder how the gov will hide that because if they think that many real jobs are being created, they have even less idea than we thought!

    • SpunkyMEMBER

      Pide, Pide how ya goin’, what d’ya know, well strike a light
      Pide, Pide and how ya go-o-o-in’
      Just say Pide, Pide, Pide and you’ll be right

      Isn’t great to be an Aussie
      Takin’ a walk along the street
      Lookin’ in shops or buyin’ a paper
      Stoppin’ and havin’ a yarn with people that you meet

    • V

      Yes, it is unbelievable the amount of trite nonsense economists are putting out there.
      For example all the fawning over Jb-Hi results. I mean people have literally been confined to their houses for months on end, so what did we think people were going to spend their money on?
      To say nothing about all the discretionary spending money that would otherwise have gone on travel being spent elsewhere.
      I suppose we should give Jb some credit for having stock on hand to sell, plenty of Aussie retailers couldn’t manage that.

Leave a reply

You must be logged in to post a comment. Log in now