Retail turnover fell a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent in May, following a rise of 1.2 percent the month prior.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the fall in turnover was driven by a 1.8 percent drop in Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing, a 1.6 percent fall in Other retailing, a 1.4 percent dip in Department store retailing, an 0.4 percent fall in Food retailing and an 0.2 percent fall in Household goods retailing
Turnover rose only in Café’s, restaurants and takeaway food services, by a relatively flat 0.4 percent.
Turnover fell most sharply in New South Wales, by 1.2 percent, and Victoria, by 1.1 percent. Turnover also slipped in South Australia (-0.7 percent), the ACT (-0.6 percent) and Tasmania (-0.2 percent).
It was unchanged in Queensland (0.0 percent) and rose 0.1 percent in the Northern Territory and 0.8 percent in Western Australia.
In trend terms, turnover rose 0.3 percent for the month, following on from a rise of 0.3 percent in April and the same figure for March.
Trend turnover rose 2.4 percent in May, compared with May 2010.
