Economic Indicators

Australia retail sales shrink 0.4% in March amid sticky inflation, high rates By Investing.com

2024.04.29 23:47

Australia retail sales shrink 0.4% in March amid sticky inflation, high rates By Investing.com

Investing.com– Australian retail sales unexpectedly shrank in March as consumer spending remained under pressure from sticky inflation and high mortgage rates- a trend that is expected to continue in the coming months. 

fell 0.4% month-on-month in March, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed on Tuesday. The reading was weaker than expectations for an increase of 0.2%, and marked a sharp reversal from the 0.3% rise seen in February. 

Spending had received a boost in February from a series of concerts by pop sensation Taylor Swift- a trend that did not spill over into the following month. Retail spending remained largely under pressure from a higher cost of living.

“The Taylor Swift-inspired boost in turnover for fashion and accessory retailers last month has proved to be temporary with an instant reversal this month,” Ben Dorber, ABS head of retail statistics, said. 

Dorber noted that underlying retail turnover remained flat for the past six months, and was only up 0.8% year-on-year in March. This was the weakest pace of growth on record, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic and the introduction of the goods and services tax. 

But softer consumer demand is one of the targets, as it moves to bring down inflation. The bank had hiked rates by over 400 basis points in the past two years. 

While the hikes did pull inflation off 30-year highs, inflation saw a resurgence in the first quarter of 2024, ramping up concerns that the RBA may have to hike rates again, or keep them higher for longer. 

3rd party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Investing.com. See disclosure here or
remove ads
.

Still, cooling retail spending factors into a softer outlook for inflation.



Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 89,163.89 3.97%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,133.99 4.26%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.03%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 214.49 1.87%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 636.77 1.75%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.393157 2.36%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 0.773437 9.65%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 0.999955 0.29%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,131.14 4.05%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.556679 5.54%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.178542 0.61%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000025 5.87%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 5.33 0.11%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 3,714.65 4.11%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 32.22 6.00%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 88,890.82 3.67%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.38 1.95%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000023 10.14%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,131.94 4.38%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 425.14 4.49%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 13.21 4.95%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 4.90 6.55%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 7.46 0.03%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 5.47 2.55%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 81.93 5.62%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 11.52 4.62%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,296.85 4.16%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.61%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 8.35 5.14%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.156572 9.12%
dogwifcoin
dogwifhat (WIF) $ 4.01 4.51%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.131433 2.82%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 8.20 6.12%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 504.61 8.45%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.145397 13.59%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.28 0.20%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 21.95 3.00%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00 0.44%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 22.17 1.16%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.09%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.363868 7.14%
blockstack
Stacks (STX) $ 1.87 5.17%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 7.01 0.59%
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 145.45 2.57%
bonk
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000038 5.34%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 43.78 3.29%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.065493 8.84%
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 163.45 8.51%
mantle
Mantle (MNT) $ 0.721454 1.21%
first-digital-usd
First Digital USD (FDUSD) $ 1.00 0.61%