April Retail Sales

Retail sales were flat in April, continuing the trend of easing consumer demand. However, retail sales still remains well above the long term trend.

In April:
💵 Retails sales were flat MoM and up 4.2% YoY. 
💵 Clothing, Footwear, and Personal Items spending was up 1.9% MoM
💵 Department Store spending was up 1.5% MoM
💵 Household Goods spending was down 1.0% MoM

As usual, the headline number can be misleading, with a big fall in durable household goods spending masking strong growth in personal items and department store spending.

Durable household good spending is more closely linked to housing turnover that consumer demand, meaning flat consumer spending in April is more to do with the slowing housing market than consumers closing their wallets.

This is backed up by data out of the CBA and Westpac, who both saw card spending grow in April.

Consumer spending isn't rolling over under the pressure of falling real wages and rising interest rates just yet.