Courtesy of Mish.
Interest rates cuts that helped boost retail sales in Australia over the past two months have already worn off. Economists expected a further rise in sales this month only to see a seasonally adjusted .8% decline.
Now Retailers want RBA action as sales dive
Retailers hope the biggest monthly drop in consumer spending in nearly two years will trigger alarm bells at the central bank when its board meets to discuss interest rates.
Retail trade fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.8 per cent in July to $21.4 billion, after being bolstered in the previous two months by government handouts and earlier interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).
Economists had expected an overall spending rise of 0.2 per cent in the data collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
But department stores’ sales slumped 10.2 per cent, the largest fall since April 2005.
Understatement of the Day Award
The understatement of the day award goes to Macquarie Research divisional director Brian Redican who said “The headwinds for growth may be building more rapidly than analysts or policymakers have been expecting.“
More Retail, Food Store Bankruptcies
The Age reports Food, fashion jobs in jeopardy as companies collapse
In another blow to Australia’s already shaky retail sector, women’s fashion chain Ojay and a ready-to-eat food manufacturer have reportedly been put into administration, threatening hundreds of jobs nationwide.
Food jobs also in jeopardy
It was reported early this afternoon that Australian Convenience Foods Group, which makes sandwiches for petrol stations and supermarkets, had collapsed.
…
