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| Retail data shows Australia stuck in the doldrums |
   
Posted Date: 03/08/2011
By Robert Stockdill
Retail sales were down in June according to official Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
The headline fall was a mere 0.1 per cent, which is not as bad as May's negative 0.6 per cent.
But on a year-on-year basis, sales rose just 1.7 per cent - over the same period of time the nation's inflation figure hit 3.6 per cent.
Today's data proves the Reserve Bank was correct in its decision yesterday to hold the official cash rate at 4.75 per cent, protecting consumers from another round of bank-imposed mortgage interest rate rises.
The data also supported David Jones' recent warning to shareholders that sales were substantially down. Department store sales were the worst affected category, falling 3.2 per cent - a huge monthly rate compared with traditional month to month fluctuations in the ABS data. No other category reflected a sales drop of more than one per cent. Household goods and cafes, restaurants and takeaways fell by 0.7 per cent each.
Within that category, bulky goods, such as flooring, textiles and furniture, fell a full percentage point. Electrical goods, being hammered by deflation, fell 0.5 per cent.
Food (supermarket) retailing rose 0.4 per cent and apparel, footwear and accessories were up 0.2 per cent. 'Other retailing' rose 1.2 per cent.
By state, South Australia fared worst, down 0.8 per cent, the ACT down 0.7 per cent, NSW down 0.5 per cent and Victoria down by 0.1 per cent.
It was a different story on the other side of the island - In WA, sales were up 0.5 per cent. Best territory was NT, up 0.6 per cent, while Queensland was up 0.2 per cent and Tasmania unchanged.
Inside Retail understands from other sources that July saw more of the same, with NSW dragging down the overall national picture and no real sales growth overall.
However what is most noticeable in the current retail environment, we are told, is inconsistency within same stores one day to the next.
"You've got retailers out there who are making no sales one day and having a great trading the day the next," one source told us. "That makes it very hard to plan stock deliveries, roster staff and make other business decisions."
The full data and further information on the statistical methodology is available at the ABS website under Retail Trade, Australia. |
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