Retail sales and building approvals fall
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported an unexpected 1.4% fall to $19.8 billion in retail sales in February following a 1.1% increase in January. The ABS also released the monthly building approvals figures, which revealed a 3.3% drop in the number of dwelling units approved in February.
The surprising declines have already fuelled speculation that the Reserve Bank will keep the official interest rate unchanged when it meets next Tuesday.
Forecasts were for a 0.3% rise in retail sales for the month, with the drop largely attributed to the four official interest rate hikes since October.
The ABS said sales dropped, in seasonally adjusted terms, across five industry groups, with New South Wales recording the largest decline in sales with a 2.5% fall.
The only state and territory to see an increase in sales during February were Tasmania (1.5%) and the Northern Territory (0.8%).
The ABS said trend turnover for February 2010 rose 0.1%.
Looking at the building approvals figures, South Australia witnessed the largest fall with a 23.3% drop. In Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, approvals slumped 14.6%.
Forecasts were for building approvals nationally to rise in excess of 2%.
After two-months of increases the number of approvals for private sector houses declined 0.9% during February, with New South Wales lagging once again, this tie with a 10.4% fall.
The ABS said the value of total building approved fell 4.5% in February, while the value of total residential building approvals rose 1.2% and non-residential building approvals fell 13.0%.
Meanwhile in separate data released today by the RBA, total credit provided to the private sector by financial intermediaries rose by 0.4% over February 2010, following an increase of 0.4% over January.
Over the year to February, total credit rose by 1.6%.
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