Fed: Retail sales post biggest rise in three years in June - ABS

AAP General News (Australia)
08-02-2004
Fed: Retail sales post biggest rise in three years in June - ABS

CANBERRA, Aug 2 AAP - Retail sales jumped 2.1 per cent in June, new figures showed
today, the biggest rise in three years but short of the bonanza expected by analysts.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said sales rose to a new record high of $16.33
billion in June as end-of-financial year sales and the payment of the $600-per-child family
bonus boosted spending.

But economists had expected a jump of four per cent in the month as the family payments
bonus pumped an extra $2.2 billion into families' pockets in the last two weeks of the
month.

The increase is still the largest monthly rise since February 2001 and will bolster
the case for higher interest rates, although the Reserve Bank is expected to make no change
at its monthly meeting today.

The ABS said allowing for seasonal influences, sales rose 1.8 per cent over the three
months to June.

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KEYWORD: RETAIL

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