Retail sales rose 0.2% in Q3 on a seasonally adjusted basis after recording three consecutive declines. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics retail sales are down 1.7% YOY for the September quarter. For the month of September, retail sales rose 0.9% on the previous month.

Food retail sales rose 1% on a seasonally adjusted basis, while cafes, restaurants and takeaway food service sales was flat in September. Retail sales rose across all Australian states in September compared to August with Tasmania (+1.8%) leading the charge, followed by NSW (+1.3%) and Victoria (+1.2%). South Australia’s retail sales rose 1.0% in September from August, while Qld, the NT and ACT’s sales rose 0.5%. In WA, September retail sales edged up 0.1% from the month before.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised the cash rates by 25 basis points to 4.35% after holding rates steady since June. While inflation has passed the peak, the RBA has assessed it is not slowing quickly enough. While the latest reading on CPI inflation indicates that while goods price inflation has eased further, the prices of many services are continuing to rise.