Retail trade figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) have shown negligible change from January, highlighting a continued 'sluggish start' to retail in 2017.
Statistics showed that clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing still remained in a challenge environment with the ABS reporting a 2.5% decline in trade, in seasonally adjusted terms.
The seasonally adjusted trend estimate fell 0.1% in February. In trend terms, each state experienced a narrow rise, except for Queensland which recorded a 0.1% fall.
Department stores saw minimal growth over the month of February, failing to reach 1% in retail trade growth (0.8 per cent).
NRA CEO Dominique Lamb said the figures released today demonstrated the sluggish state of the Australian retail sector, using the statistics to reinforce the importance of upcoming changes to Australian penalty rates.
“The retail sector should be the engine room for job creation in the economy, however the lack of consumer confidence has attributed to the ongoing struggle for retailers.
“Once the Fair Work Commission’s decision to cut penalty rates begins to take force from July 1, retailers should have a little more breathing space.”