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Investing.com-- Australia’s retail sales grew slightly below forecasts in May, as a decline in food spending offset a rebound in clothing purchases, though overall growth improved from the previous month.
Retail sales rose 0.2% month-on-month in May from a 0.1% decline in the prior month, but came in below expectations of a 0.3% growth, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday.
Clothing, footwear, and personal accessory sales rose by 2.9%, while department store sales increased by 2.6% in May, with both sectors rebounding from sharp declines in April.
"‘Clothing retailers and department stores were boosted by people buying winter clothes, having held off on those purchases with the warmer-than-usual weather last month," Robert Ewing, ABS head of business statistics, said in a statement.
However, spending on food fell for the first time this year, driven by food retailing businesses.
Consumers appeared to tighten spending amid rising uncertainty from U.S. tariffs and concerns over the Australian economy.
A subdued retail spending figure supports bets of more interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia. Markets widely expect the central bank to cut rates again at its July policy meeting.