Australia retail sales bounce 1.1% in January, trend still weak

Australian retail sales rebounded in January after a slump the previous month, though annual growth in spending remained anaemic as high-interest rates ate into spending power.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday showed retail sales rose 1.1 per cent in January from December when it dived a revised 2.1 per cent. Analysts had looked for a bounce of 1.5 per cent, though the series has been very volatile in recent months as spending habits changed.

Sales of A$35.7 billion ($23.18 billion) were up just 1.1 per cent from a year earlier, a weak result given the country's rapid population growth.