Retail sales retreat 0.1% in April, missing forecasts
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The news: Australian retail turnover fell 0.1% in April, according to new figures by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), after economists expected to see growth of 0.3% during the month.
The numbers: The monthly decline followed growth of 0.3% in March and 0.2% in February.
There were mixed results across the industries, with the largest falls in clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (-2.5%) and department stores (-2.5%).
This was partially offset by rises in other retailing (0.7%) and household goods retailing (0.6%).
Food-related spending continued its recent rise, with 1.1% growth in cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services. This was partially offset by a 0.3% fall in food retailing.
Retail turnover rose 1.4% in Queensland and 0.4% in Western Australia, but all other states and territories saw declines after growth in March.
The context: ABS head of business statistics, Robert Ewing, said declines in April were partly offset by a bounce-back in Queensland as businesses recovered from the negative impacts of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred last month.
The rise in food-related spending was driven by more dining out in Queensland this month, Ewing said, after adverse weather negatively impacted cafe and restaurant sales in March.
Meanwhile, warmer-than-usual weather in April saw people holding off on buying new clothing items.
The source: ABS
