Australian retail sales dim in Dec, but Q4 bright

Australian retail sales eased more than expected in December after a barnstorming couple of months, but still posted a smart rebound in the final quarter of 2017 in a positive sign for household consumption and economic growth.

Thursday’s figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed retail sales eased 0.5 percent in December, from November when they rose a solid 1.3 percent led by Black Friday discounts. Economists polled by Reuters had predicted a 0.2 percent fall.

The pullback in part reflected the impact of online discounting events in November which brought spending forward. Online sales grew 6 percent in original terms in December, after jumping 20 percent in November.

The local dollar eased about 20 pips to $0.7868 on the weaker-than-expected monthly number. Household goods led the falls with department stores, clothing, footwear, cafes and restaurants all posting losses.

For the fourth quarter as a whole, retail sales beat expectations to rise a rapid 0.9 percent in inflation-adjusted terms. That followed a very sedate 0.1 percent gain the previous quarter.

The revival greatly improved the outlook for gross domestic product growth, given household spending accounts for around 57 percent of annual economic output.
In the third quarter, household consumption had expanded at its slowest pace since 2008, marring an otherwise respectable annual growth outcome of 2.8 percent.

Consumer spending has been under pressure from record-high household debt and sluggish wage growth, one reason the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is in no rush to raise interest rates from record lows.