Inside Retail presents the Australian Retail Index.

The index gives a quick overview of retail statistics in four key categories; fashion and accessories, furniture and homewares, sporting and recreational, and other.

Key retail statistics are shown weekly, with yearly comparisons available.

Retail sales have clawed back some lost ground finishing at just 1.54 per cent down on the previous week. While this is still a negative result, this is a recovery from two weeks ago when the Index showed a drop in retail sales of a very significant 11.37 per cent, the single largest drop since mid-July 2015.

The fashion and accessories sector was the major contributor to the positive turnaround, posting a 4.47 per cent growth on the previous week. Once again this sector has shown that it is particularly volatile, struggling to string together consecutive weeks of sales growth.

In worrying signs for furniture retailers, this sector recorded a negative result for the second straight week, finishing at 4.67 per cent down on the previous week.