Australian retail turnover rises 0.2% in May on winter clothing boost

Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing rose by 2.9 per cent, while department stores saw a 2.6 per cent increase—both rebounding from significant declines in April, according to seasonally adjusted figures released by the ABS.

“Retail spending rose in May driven mainly by a bounce-back in clothing purchases,” said Robert Ewing, ABS head of business statistics. “Retail spending was otherwise restrained this month, with a drop in food-related spending and flat results across household goods.” Non-food related spending drove the rise in retail turnover this month.

“Clothing retailers and department stores were boosted by people buying winter clothes, having held off on those purchases with the warmer-than-usual weather last month,” added Ewing.

Other retailing had a fall (-0.2 per cent), while household goods retailing remained unchanged.

Retail turnover rose in most states and territories, with Western Australia (0.7 per cent) seeing the largest rise. Tasmania (-0.1 per cent) had the only fall, while Northern Territory was flat.

“The growth in retail turnover in Western Australia continued with spending up for a seventh straight month. Spending across the rest of the country was subdued,” said Ewing.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (SG)