Retail sales jumped a stronger than forecast 1.8% in February as shoppers continued to spend up as the Covid Omicron fears of December and early January dissipated.
The rise was well above market estimates for a rise of 0.8% and confirm the strong trend in January when sales were up 1.6% (down from the first reported rise of 1.7%), according to the February retail sales report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The solid rise saw sales volumes for the year to February jump 9.1%, pointing to what could be a solid set of consumption figures in the March quarter national accounts in early June.
The rise helps explain why so many retailers have said the recovery in sales that started in January continued into February and so far, into March.
February’s total of more than $33.08 billion was the second highest on record after November’s 7.1% jump to $33.34 billion.
ABS Director of Quarterly Economy Wide Statistics, Ben James, said in Tuesday’s release “Lower COVID-19 case numbers in February, alongside the further easing of restrictions over the month, saw consumer spending return to similar behaviour seen previously as states and territories come out of a COVID-19 wave,” Mr James said
“Most discretionary spending industries experienced strong rises once again as consumer cautiousness lessened, leading to an increase in mobility and improved business conditions. On the other hand, non-discretionary industries, such as Food retailing, saw their turnover contract this month.”
Sales in cafes, restaurants and takeaways surged 9.7% to a record $4.465 billion as businesses overcame staff shortages and closures from previous months to return to more normal trading conditions.
The ABS data shows other industries also benefitted from a return to favourable trading conditions including clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (up 11.2%), department stores (11.1%) and household goods retailing (a 2.3% rise).
Food retailing had the largest industry fall, down 2.6%, unwinding most of the strength gained during the Omicron outbreak. The other industry to fall was other retailing, down 1.1%.
The ABS said that with no lockdowns in place and restrictions easing, most states and territories saw a rise in retail sales in February with NSW seeing the largest rise, up 3.9%, followed by Victoria (1.7%) and Queensland (1.5%).
Two states and territories saw falls in February, with the largest fall in Western Australia (down 2.9%). This was largely due to floods in late January which cut off a critical rail supply chain from South Australia. The Northern Territory also saw a fall, down 3.8%. Sales in South Australia though jumped 3.1% in the month.
