Australia retail sales growth slows to 0.2% in February

Reuters

Published Mar 27, 2023 08:49PM ET

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian retail sales eked out a meagre gain in February after wild swings around year-end holidays, indicating shoppers are reining in spending in the face of higher costs of living and rising interest rates.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Tuesday showed retail sales rose 0.2% in February from January, when they picked up a revised 1.8%. Sales of A$35.14 billion ($23.42 billion) were 6.4% higher than a year earlier.