Australia's retail sales dipped unexpectedly in July, with a 1 per cent decrease offsetting much of the 2 per cent rise in June. It had been expected that the tax cuts and benefit payments announced in the May 2004 budget would support further strong spending growth in July. The underlying sales trend remains positive, and seasonally adjusted turnover rose by 6.4 per cent in the 12 months to July 2004.
WA bucked the national trend with weak but positive turnover growth of 0.1 per cent between June and July. WA's sales have risen by 2.5 per cent in the past three months, and increased by 7.7 per cent through the year to July 2004.
Source: ABS Cat. 8501.0