FED: Consumer demand soft in June, retail trade up 0.1 pct

AAP General News (Australia)
08-04-1999
FED: Consumer demand soft in June, retail trade up 0.1 pct

Consumer demand remained soft in June as department store spending slumped but food and
clothing sales have strengthened.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics says retail trade has climbed a seasonally adjusted 0.1
per cent to be worth $12.16 billion.

The result has come in below economists' expectations, which centred on a 0.4 per cent rise
for the month after a 0.1 per cent increase in May.

Compared with a year earlier, retail trade was up 7.2 per cent.

In June, department store spending fell by 3.3 per cent, seasonally adjusted, while food
retailing climbed 1.0 per cent and clothing and soft good retailing was up 1.2 per cent.

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KEYWORD: RETAIL (CANBERRA)

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