Australians may be starting to care less about their appearances if the latest retail sales figures are anything to go on. During September, spending on recreational goods, toiletries, cosmetics and clothing was lower than in August. These categories experienced the single largest fall of the various retail categories.
Total retail sales (seasonally adjusted) remained unchanged after rounding in September, after falling by 0.5% (revised up from -0.6%) in August. On a year-on-year basis, sales grew by just 1.4%, down from the 2.1% annual rate recorded in August. September is the fifth month in a row where the growth rate has fallen.
The figures were short of the +0.4% increase expected and August’s revisions were too small to make an impact. The AUD dropped immediately from 77.15 U.S cents to 76.90 U.S cents while 3 year and 10 year bond yields also fell quickly. 3 year bonds ended the day down 7bps at 1.93% while 10 year bonds finished 8.5bps lower at 2.59%.