WA hospitality sector shows signs of resurgence

Western Australia has bucked the national trend and recorded a 0.6 per cent rise in retail spend for July, underpinned by gains in the hospitality sector, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

WA retail turnover for July reached a seasonally adjusted $2.89 billion, led by cafes, restaurants, and catering and takeaway services increasing their turnover by 1.4 per cent to $483.5 million.

This category of retail reached turnover of $482.8 million in December, but it fell to $459.2 million in May.

Since the dip in May, however, there has been a steady increase.

The pharmaceutical, cosmetics and toiletry goods category was the weakest performer in WA for July, recording a 1.7 per cent decline in turnover to $157.6 million.

In December, this category achieved turnover of $158.7 million.

Department store turnover also declined, down 1.5 per cent to $163.9 million, which is the same overall decline it has experienced since December.

Across Australia, retail spending fell by an unexpected 0.1 per cent, which defied many economists' predictions of a rise following increases in both May and June.

The seasonally adjusted retail spend declined to $27.41 billion for July, which Westpac senior economist Matthew Hassan said indicated that stimulus from tax cuts and lower interest rates had yet to flow through to households.

Online retail turnover contributed 6.1 per cent to total retail turnover in original terms for July, unchanged from the prior month.