© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Vacation consumers stand in line inside a mall within the metropolis centre of Sydney, Australia, December 17, 2020. REUTERS/Loren Elliott
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian retail gross sales have been flat in April as shoppers, within the face of excessive value of residing and rising rates of interest, curbed spending on meals and consuming out.
Information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Friday confirmed retail gross sales have been unchanged in April from March, after they rose 0.4%. Analysts had regarded for a 0.2% progress.
Gross sales of A$35.26 billion ($23.92 billion) have been up 4.2% from a 12 months earlier, slowing from the 5.4% progress in March.
($1 = 1.4743 Australian {dollars})