The total value of retail sales in Australia was unchanged in December on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Friday, worth A$24.759 billion.
That missed forecasts for an increase of 0.4 percent, which would have been unchanged from the November reading. Sales were up 0.6 percent in October.
Among the individual components, food retailing was up 0.4 percent, along with household goods retailing (0.4 percent), clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (0.4 percent) and department stores (0.4 percent).
Other retailing (0.0 percent) and cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (0.0 percent) were relatively unchanged.
By region, sales were up 0.4 percent in Victoria, followed by New South Wales (0.3 percent), Queensland (0.3 percent), South Australia (0.3 percent), the Australian Capital Territory (0.8 percent), Tasmania (0.3 percent) and the Northern Territory (0.2 percent). Western Australia (0.0 percent) was relatively unchanged.
For the fourth quarter of 2015, retail sales added 0.6 percent to A$72.062 billion.
That also missed expectations for an increase of 0.9 percent, although it was unchanged from the three months prior.
Also on Friday, the Australian Industry Group said that the construction sector in Australia remained in contraction in January with a PMI score of 46.3.
That's down from 46.8 in December, and it moves farther beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
Among the individual components of the survey, apartment building, commercial construction and engineering construction all contracted - while house building expanded for the second straight month.
Activities and new orders remained in contraction, while supplier deliveries swung lower from expansion last month.
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