The total value of retail sales in Australia was unchanged in June compared to the previous month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday, coming in at A$21.818 billion.
That was shy of expectations for a seasonally adjusted increase of 0.4 percent on month following the upwardly revised 0.2 percent increase in May (originally 0.1 percent).
By category, gains for sales in food services (0.9 percent), household goods (0.3 percent) and food (0.1 percent) were offset by losses in other retailing (-1.1 percent) and clothing, footwear and personal accessory (-0.2 percent). Department store sales were flat.
Over the longer term, food retailing remains the strongest contributor to growth (up 0.2 percent in trend terms), the bureau said.
By region, gains in turnover in Victoria (0.1 percent), the Australian Capital Territory (1.3 percent), South Australia (0.3 percent) and Queensland (0.1 percent) were offset by falls in Western Australia (-0.4 percent), the Northern Territory (-0.4 percent) and Tasmania (-0.1 percent). New South Wales (0.0 percent) was relatively unchanged.
Over the longer term, New South Wales remains the strongest contributor to growth (up 0.2 percent in trend terms), the bureau said.
Through the year, Australian retail turnover rose 1.1 percent in June 2013, seasonally adjusted, compared to June 2012.
For the second quarter of 2013, retail sales ex inflation also were flat on quarter - beating forecasts for a 0.1 percent decline after climbing a downwardly revised 2.0 percent in the previous three months (originally 2.2 percent).
Also on Monday: • The inflation forecast for July from TD Securities suggested an increase of 0.5 percent on month and 2.7 percent on year. That followed the flat monthly reading and the 2.4 percent gain in June.
• The Performance of Services Index from AiG came in with a score of 39.4 for June, sinking further into contraction after showing 41.5 in the previous month.
• Upon the release of the data, the Australian dollar declined against other major currencies, trading near 0.8861 against the greenback, 87.78 against the yen, 1.4968 against the euro and 1.1433 against the kiwi.
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