Australia's retail sales rebound beyond expectations in April

According to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Australia's April retail sales came in at +1.0% m/m vs +0.3% expected and -0.2% (revised lower) last.

Key Points:

Retail sales - current prices 

The trend estimate rose 0.1% in April 2017. This follows a rise of 0.1% in March 2017 and a rise of 0.1% in February 2017.

The seasonally adjusted estimate rose 1.0% in April 2017. This follows a fall of 0.2% in March 2017 and a relatively unchanged February 2017 (0.0%).

In trend terms, Australian turnover rose 2.7% in April 2017 compared with April 2016.

The following industries rose in trend terms in April 2017: Food retailing (0.2%), Other retailing (0.4%), Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (0.2%), and Department Stores (0.4%). Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (-0.4%), and Household goods retailing (-0.1%) fell in trend terms in April 2017.

The following states and territories rose in trend terms in April 2017: Victoria (0.3%), New South Wales (0.1%), South Australia (0.4%), the Australian Capital Territory (0.3%), and Tasmania (0.1%). Queensland (0.0%) and Western Australia (0.0%) were relatively unchanged. The Northern Territory (-0.1%) fell in trend terms in April 2017.