Australia August Retail Sales Up 0.4%

The total value of retail sales in Australia added a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent in August compared to the previous month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday, standing at A$21.923 billion.

That beat forecasts for an increase of 0.3 percent following the 0.1 percent gain in July.

By individual category, food retailing was up 0.1 percent, followed by clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (0.5 percent), household goods retailing (0.2 percent) and cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (0.2 percent).

Moving lower were sales from department stores (-0.9 percent) and other retailing (-0.3 percent).

By region, South Australia was up 0.6 percent, along with Victoria (0.1 percent), the Northern Territory (0.9 percent) and Tasmania (0.5 percent). Queensland was relatively unchanged (0.0 percent).

Moving lower were sales in New South Wales (-0.1 percent), Western Australia (-0.1 percent) and the Australian Capital Territory (-0.2 percent).

Also on Tuesday:

. Manufacturing activity in Australia expanded in September, according to survey results released by the Australian Industry Group. AIG’s Performance of Manufacturing Index rose 5.3 points from August to 51.7.

Readings above 50.0 indicate expansion of activity in the measured sector. The September reading marked the first reading above 50.0 in more than two years.

. The RPData/Rismark House Price Index saw a gain of 1.6 percent on month in September. That follows the 0.5 percent increase in August.

. Upon the release of the data, the Australian dollar gained against other major currencies, trading at 0.9332 against the greenback, 91.87 against the yen, 1.4490 against the euro and 1.1238 against the kiwi.

Published: 2013-10-01 03:30:00 UTC+00

Australia August Retail Sales Up 0.4%