Prices are high, but Australians keep on spending, with retail sales hitting another record high.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics says retail sales were up by 0.9 per cent month-on-month in May, marking the fifth consecutive rise, and beating the market estimation of 0.4 per cent.
We saw jumped of 0.9 per cent in April, 1.6 per cent in March, 1.8 per cent in February and 1.6 per cent in January.
Surprisingly, considering the cost of groceries, it was department stores that led the charge, up 5.1 per cent.
This was followed by cafes, restaurants, and takeaway food services (1.8 per cent), other retail (1.5 per cent), groceries (0.6 per cent) and household goods (0.4 per cent).
NSW and Victoria had the highest rise in turnover, up 1.6 and 1.3 per cent respectively.
Tasmania turnover rose 1.1 per cent, South Australia turnover rose 1 per cent, NT 0.6 per cent, and WA 0.2 per cent. QLD and the ACT both recorded falls of 0.4 and 0.3 per cent.
“Higher prices added to the growth in retail turnover in May,” points out ABS director of quarterly economy wide statistics Ben Dorber.
“This was most evident in cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services and food retailing,” he said.