Bad Santa ends hot consumer run

David Llewellyn-Smith

Tuesday 10 February 2026

The ABS released the December monthly spending indicator yesterday, and it came in weak at -0.4%.

The quarterly rate was still high at 2.2%, and the annual rate was likewise 5%.

Volumes were 0.9% for the quarter, so a solid contributor to GDP.

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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.