Australia Retail Sales Fall Unexpectedly In July

Australia Retail Sales Fall Unexpectedly In July


Australia's retail sales declined unexpectedly in July and at the fastest pace in almost two years as consumers trimmed their spending.
Retail sales dropped 0.8 percent in July from a month ago, marking the largest fall since October 2010, the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Monday.
The July's fall confounded expectations for a 0.2 percent gain. Sales had increased by a revised 1.2 percent in June and 0.6 percent in May.
A 10.2 percent drop in department store sales was the major reason behind the overall decline in July. Sales in other retailing eased 2.8 percent and clothing and footwear sales slipped 0.9 percent. Food retailing gained only 0.1 percent in July and household goods retailing climbed 2.4 percent.
Elsewhere, a survey from ANZ showed that job advertisements declined at a faster pace of 2.3 percent in August from a month ago, when it slipped 0.8 percent. It was the fifth consecutive monthly fall.
The number of job advertisements in newspapers fell 6.1 percent and internet job advertisements dropped 2.1 percent.
Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens told lawmakers last month that the ongoing mining boom will likely see its peak within the next year or two. He said policymakers are prepared to respond if the economy slows.
The bank eased monetary policy in May and June, lowering the cash rate by a total of 75 basis points. This was done in addition to two adjustments made last year.
Despite weak economic data, the central bank is widely expected to leave its key rate unchanged at 3.5 percent on Tuesday. The second quarter GDP growth data is due on September 5. The economy is seen expanding at a slower pace of 3.7 percent annually after growing 4.3 percent in the first quarter.


More FOREX-news on pages InstaForex.Com