Australian retail sales grew 3.8% for the year-ended June 2017, having expanded on an annual basis for each of the last three quarters. In June 2017, retail sales rose an anaemic 0.3%, down from the 0.6% of the prior month, but within the bounds of stability, if not outright growth.
As the chart below shows, Australia’s retail sales growth had, on an annualised basis, been trending down since late 2013, rarely posting more than two successive months of growth on an annualised basis.
To go straight to the dashboard and take a closer look at the data, click here.
Clearly the recent results have been aided by the strength experienced in April, but that does not diminish the improved situation for retail sales. What is a little more concerning, at least for some sectors, is that the growth in sales is patchy, at best.
As the chart below shows, growth in sales of Furniture, Floor Coverings and Homewares has outperformed the growth for all industries by around double in the last few months, on an annualised basis. In fact, sales for the year-ended June rose by a very strong 9.89% – well above the 3.8% recorded for all industries.
To go straight to the dashboard and take a closer look at the data, click here.
The other related sector, Hardware, Building and Garden Supplies has seen its sales growth slump below the all industries level after being well ahead of it for much of the period in the chart.
What seems to be occurring is that the different stages in the retail cycle are reflected in the different phases of preparing and entering one’s new house – at least to some extent. We would have expected that with the sustained number of new residential completions of the last few years, that the ‘outdoor’ expenditures would be continuing, while the ‘indoor’ furniture and related items would have been in addition.
It is not immediately clear why the switch from one to the other has occurred, save for the fact that households have to make choices about what they spend and when they do so.
Retail sales data of relevance to the forestry and wood products sector is somewhat contradictory at the moment, but the backdrop is clear enough – recovering retail sales are still historically quite soft.
