Australia Retail Sales Sinks 1.7% In August

(RTTNews) - The total value of retail sales in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 1.7 percent on month in August, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday - coming in at A$29.275 billion.

Individually, household goods (-2.3 percent), clothing (-15.7 percent), department stores (-10.2 percent) and cafes and restaurants (-7.0 percent) were down - while food (2.1 percent) and other retailing (0.8 percent) were up.

By region, sales were down in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, Northern Territory and Capital Territory. Sales were up in South Australia and Western Australia.

On a yearly basis, retail sales were down 0.7 percent.