Australia's poor retail sales in July, falling house prices across the country again in August, and a decline in a job advertisement indicator suggest further setbacks in consumer confidence and spending.
Retail sales were flat in July from the previous month, the weakest since March, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Monday. The Reuters poll was originally forecast to grow by 0.3% in June, up by 0.4% in real terms.
Clothing and footwear sales fell 2%, the first drop; department store sales fell 1.9%, household goods sales decreased 1.2%. But sales of food, cafes and restaurants have grown, and this category has remained resilient over the past year or so.
The bad news short pressed the Australian dollar against the US dollar AUD=D3 to slide to $0.7166, the lowest level since the beginning of 2017. The Australian dollar was 0.7177, down 0.2%.
The disappointing retail sales figures came as rising wages and a once-booming housing slowdown in Australia hit household consumption, raising concerns among analysts.
Worryingly, data released earlier today showed that overall job advertisements in Australia fell in August, no longer indicating a further drop in unemployment.
According to another data, housing prices in Australia declined in August for the eleventh consecutive month, as banks tightened lending standards.
Lending growth has reached its lowest level in more than four years, and indicators of consumer confidence remain low for over a year.

<>Australian retail sales and housing prices are sluggish.

 

PREVIOUS:The longest bull market in US stocks history        NEXT:High speed precision CNC machine tool bearing series upgrade