The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released its latest Australian Retail Trade data, which is showing strong seasonally adjusted numbers for the liquor sector.
Overall retail turnover in July 2017 was 0.0 per cent seasonally adjusted, following a 0.2 per cent rise in June. While many sectors struggled in July, showing negative growth, liquor retailing saw two per cent seasonally adjusted growth, one of the strongest performances of any retail sector.
In seasonally adjusted terms, there were falls in household goods retailing (-1.7 per cent), department stores (-2.8 per cent) and clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (-0.2 per cent).
There were rises in food retailing (0.7 per cent), other retailing (1.3 per cent), and cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (0.2 per cent) in July 2017.
“The falls in household goods retailing and department stores come after strong rises during the June quarter,” said Ben James, Director of Quarterly Economy Wide surveys for the ABS.
In seasonally adjusted terms, there were falls in New South Wales (-0.4 per cent), South Australia (-0.8 per cent), Tasmania (-0.9 per cent) and the Northern Territory (-0.1 per cent). There were rises in Victoria (0.4 per cent), Western Australia (0.6 per cent), Queensland (0.2 per cent) and the Australian Capital Territory (0.1 per cent).
The trend estimate for Australian retail turnover rose 0.3 per cent in July 2017 following a 0.4 per cent rise in June 2017. Compared to July 2016, the trend estimate rose 3.5 per cent. Online retail turnover contributed 4.3 per cent to total retail turnover in original terms.