9 Jul 2014

Retail spending flat in June

2:41 pm on 9 July 2014

Prices of fuel and hospitality rose in the month of June while prices of durable goods fell.

Core retail spending, which excludes the vehicle-related industries, fell 0.4 percent in the latest month after a 1 percent rise in May.

Compared with June last year, core retail spending was up 4.1 percent, down from the 6.8 percent annual pace in May.

An economist at ANZ Bank, Mark Smith, says the pullback in spending in the latest month wasn't so surprising and that the solid growth trend remains intact.

"If you look at a three-month average spending, it's moving at around 1.5 percent in a quarter, around 5 percent annually.

"Now the retail sector is certainly moving forward. Probably the most encouraging thing, though, is it's growing in line with income growth.

"So consumers are confident but they're not getting too carried away and letting spending run ahead of incomes."