Retail trade lifts 0.2% in August: ABS

The news: Australian retail turnover lifted by 0.2% in August, seasonally adjusted, as consumers continued to restrain their spending in the face of cost pressures. In trend terms, retail trade was only up 1.3% compared to August 2022, the smallest one-year trend growth in the history of the series.

The numbers: The slight increase followed a boost of 0.5% in July and a 0.8% fall in June. Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (+1.3%) reported the biggest increase, bolstered by the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Household goods retailing slipped for the third straight month and recorded the biggest decrease, falling 0.3%. Food retailing turnover fell for the second month in a row by 0.3%.

The context: Yesterday's increased annual CPI figure of 5.2% for the year to August indicated cost-of-living pressures are continuing to constrain consumers, despite food inflation easing slightly.

What they said: “Considering how high inflation and strong population growth has added to retail turnover in the past year, the historically low trend growth highlights just how much consumers have pulled back in response to cost-of-living pressures," ABS retail statistics head Ben Dorber said in a statement.