October retail sales were flat through the month despite falls in interest rates and the Morrison government's tax cuts.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer
Sales fell by 0.8 per cent in clothing and footwear,household good sales dropped by 0.2 per cent and department stores reported a 0.8 per cent drop.
There was a 0.4 per cent lift in cafes and restaurants while the biggest sector,food retailing,lifted by 0.1 per cent.
Economists had been tipping a 0.3 per cent lift through the month,in part due to the impact of the government's income tax cuts. October was also the month the Reserve Bank delivered its third rate cut of the year,taking the official cash rate down to 0.75 per cent.
The nation's two biggest retail states,Victoria and NSW,went backward during the month. Sales in Victoria dropped by 0.4 per cent while they were off by 0.2 per cent in NSW.
Annual growth in Victoria has now slipped to 1.3 per cent,well short of the state's population growth rate of 2.1 per cent. Spending in the state's cafes and restaurants and on takeaway meals has also fallen by 1.2 per cent since October.
NSW's annual growth rate has dropped to 1.5 per cent. Clothing sales and purchases through NSW department stores have both fallen over the past 12 months.
There were better signs in Queensland with sales there up by 0.4 per cent while they also increased by 0.2 per cent in Western Australia.