Australia Retail Sales Post Surprise Fall


Australia's retail sales unexpectedly declined in November amid sharp reduction in sales at department stores and in household goods category, the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Wednesday.



Retail sales fell 0.1 percent month-on-month to A$21.5 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis in November against expectations for a 0.3 percent growth. This followed a flat reading in October.



Sales of household goods declined 0.9 percent month-on-month in November and trade at department stores slipped 0.4 percent. There was zero growth in food retailing and 0.6 percent drop in clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing.



Retail sales in Australia continue to disappoint, following on from a soft report in October, Tom Kennedy, an economist at J. P. Morgan Australia, said. "What little strength that we have seen in the retail report over the past few months has largely been generated by food retailing, which is likely being driven by an increase in prices, rather than a surge in demand."



The economists said real consumption has been very soft during the final three months of the year.



Separately, the statistical office reported that job vacancies in Australia fell to 166,800 in September-November from 179,200 in the three months through August after adjusting for seasonal variations. This was the lowest level since May 2010.



In a report today, the Housing Industry Association (HIA) said that new home sales posted a second consecutive monthly improvement in November driven by higher demand for detached houses.



Home sales rose 4.7 percent in November. However, HIA said that sales still remained at quite low levels. In the three months to November, the volume of sales was 15.7 percent lower than in the same period in 2011.





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European Economics Preview: U.K. Retail Sales Data Due


Retail sales data from the U.K. is the main news due from Europe on Thursday, headlining a light day for European economic news.



At 3.30 am ET, Dutch statistical office is scheduled to release the unemployment figures for September. The jobless rate is tipped to rise to 8.7 percent from 8.6 percent recorded a month earlier. Statistics Sweden is also due to publish the job market data at 3.30 am ET.



The European Central Bank is slated to release the Eurozone's current account balance for August at 4 am ET.



The Office for National Statistics is due to announce retail sales statistics at 4.30 am ET. Sales, including auto fuel, is forecast to increase 0.4 percent month-on-month in September.



At 5 am ET, Eurozone construction output data from Eurostat is due. Producer price figures from Portugal is expected at 6 am ET.



Poland's central bank is scheduled to release the minutes of its October monetary policy meeting at 8 am ET.





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2013-10-17 11:42

U.K. Retail Sales Growth Tops Expectations


British retail sales growth accelerated more-than-expected in July as the heatwave boosted food store sales, data showed Thursday.



Including automotive fuel, retail sales volume advanced 1.1 percent from the prior month, following a 0.2 percent rise in June, the Office for National Statistics said. Sales grew for the third month and the rate of growth was expected to rise moderately to 0.7 percent.



Sales that exclude automotive fuel also grew by 1.1 percent, which was faster than the 0.3 percent expansion seen in the previous month. The rate exceeded the consensus forecast of 0.6 percent.



Food store sales surged 2.5 percent, which was partially offset by a 0.3 percent drop in non-food store sales. Non-store retailing rose 1.7 percent in July.



According to a monthly survey carried out by the Confederation of British Industry, retailers expect sales volumes to increase again in the year through August after rising for the first time in five months in July.



Last week, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney assured that policymakers do not intend to hike interest rates from the current 0.50 percent, at least until the unemployment rate has fallen to a threshold of 7 percent.



However, Martin Beck, UK economist at Capital Economics said the resources to sustain growth in sales still look lacking with real pay set to continue falling into next year and households eating into their savings.



The ONS data today showed that all retailing including auto fuel climbed 3 percent annually, the biggest since January 2011. Sales were expected to grow by 2.4 percent after rising 1.9 percent each in June and May.



At the same time, annual growth in sales, excluding auto fuel, came in at 3.1 percent, up from June's 1.8 percent rise and above the 2.7 percent forecast.



At 2.1 percent, the volume of sales in the food sector increased at the fastest pace since April 2011. The amount spent increased 5.7 percent, the highest since September 2011.



The sunny weather boosted sales across a range of products, including food, alcohol, clothing and outdoor items.





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2013-08-15 16:15