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Retail sales remain slow according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), with a slight rise in turnover for January 2019.

According to the ABS, seasonally adjusted turnover rose by a modest 0.1 per cent, compared to a 0.4 per cent nosedive recorded for December 2018.

National Retail Association (NRA) CEO Dominque Lamb said that although there were mixed results for the sector, things do at least seem to be heading in the right direction.

“The ABS data for January 2019 is modest overall, however it is a significant improvement on the December 2018 results,” Lamb said.

“While January hasn’t proved to be a ground-breaking month by any stretch, on the plus side it does indicate that retail is slowly picking itself up and heading in the right direction.

Lamb also said that the ABS results justified the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) decision earlier this week to leave interest rates on hold at a record low 1.5 per cent.

“Following today’s ABS results the NRA absolutely supports the decision of the RBA to keep interest rates on hold at a record low,” Ms Lamb said.

“Clearly rates need to be kept low for longer in order to grow wages that will ultimately boost household income and consumer spending.

According to the NRA, the January results also demonstrate the need to focus on consumer spending ahead of the upcoming Federal Budget on April 2.

“It is less than a month before the Federal Budget and it’s vital that the most important economic statement of the year focuses on encouraging consumer spending.

“Measures such as tax cuts, infrastructure spending and initiatives that ease the burden on small business can all help improve the economy and assist retail in getting out of this sluggish phase it’s experiencing.”

Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman said the latest figures were lower than anticipated.

“As we forecasted a 3.1% increase in post-Christmas trade and predicted Australians would spend almost $18.3 billion from December 26, 2018 to January 15, 2019, today’s figures are slightly less than what we anticipated,” he said.

“While December sales started off strong, it seems to have slightly lowered for January. Despite today’s amicable figures, the ARA will continue to partner with Roy Morgan annually to deliver the only professionally researched retail industry predictions.”

While clothing, footwear and personal accessories received respectable growth in January, department stores (-1.38%) noted a decrease in year-on-year sales.

However, Zimmerman said he is optimistic that these figures will improve over the coming months.

“Although department stores saw a decrease in year-on-year growth for January, it’s important to note that Myer had a return on profitability for the first six months of this year," Zimmerman said.

Across the nation, New South Wales (0.65%) and Tasmania (0.42%) recorded the strongest year-on-year growth of all the states.

While South Australia (0.12%) and Victoria (0.11%) showed steady year-on-year growth, Western Australia (-0.34%), Australian Capital Territory (-0.40%), Queensland (0.46%) and Northern Territory (-1.21%) received negative figures in January.

“Tasmania, Victoria and Australian Capital Territory indicated a strong year-on-year growth in January and it is promising to see Western Australia continuing to record positive numbers after a period of sustained weakness,” Zimmerman said.

“However, it is concerning to see that the Northern Territory have yet again showed negative figures for the fifth consecutive month in row, after recording such strong results last year from March to August."

 

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