SYDNEY: Australian retail sales jumped 7.1% in November as shoppers were lured by pre-Christmas sales with the second-most populous state of Victoria emerging out of a lengthy lockdown in a positive omen for the country’s economy.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed retail sales in Victoria rose 22.4% from October as Melbourne retail stores were able to trade for a full month. Excluding Victoria, turnover rose 2.6%.
Overall sales grew 13.3% in November from a year ago, the strongest result since July 2001.
The figures point to relatively strong fourth-quarter gross domestic product growth after a solid rise in the third quarter even though economists expect a slowdown in retail sales in December.
“ANZ data suggests that while December sales are likely to be down on November, the end of 2020 didn’t represent a big reversal of November’s sales growth,” ANZ economists wrote in a note, citing the bank’s card spending data.
“While there was some rebalancing of spending towards entertainment, travel and services, we expect annual retail growth to be stronger than pre-pandemic for a little longer.”
An outbreak in Sydney’s Northern Beaches around mid-December and a 3-day lockdown in Brisbane have cast a shadow over Australia’s quick economic recovery hopes with analysts predicting a small dent to growth.
However, “in the scheme of things, the shutdowns are small and if current infection trends continue, Australia should be able to re-establish the more positive recovery path in evidence before Christmas, relatively quickly,” said Ivan Colhoun, global head of research for National Australia Bank.
Thanks to border closures and widespread compliance with social distancing rules, along with aggressive testing and tracing programmes, Australia has been more successful than most advanced economies in managing the pandemic, with total infections in the country of 25 million people at around 28,600, including 909 deaths.
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