Lockdown lift got spending going, ABS June retail trade figures show

Australians celebrated the easing of restrictions in June by flocking to cafes and malls, helping retail trade lift 2.4 per cent over the month.

Victorians have been seen buying material and sewing machines at stores such as Spotlight in the wake of the state’s move to mandate the wearing of face masks.

Australians celebrated the easing of restrictions in June by flocking to cafes and malls, helping retail trade lift 2.4 per cent over the month, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show, although there was early evidence that supermarket hoarding had returned in Victoria.

Total retail turnover, in seasonally adjusted terms, climbed to $29.7bn, the provisional data revealed – a hefty 8.2 per cent increase from spending in June 2019.

The strong increase in retail trade last month backed up a record 17 per cent surge in May as retail recovered from an equally historic 18 per cent collapse in April during the depths of the COVID-19 recession and shutdowns.

While some restrictions remained in June, the ABS reported that cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services, and clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing businesses had their first full month in operation since the pandemic struck in February.

Households’ spending habits have ebbed and flowed through the course of the health crisis, with panic buying of supermarket items and pharmaceuticals a hallmark of the very early stages, followed by large increases in purchases of goods to furnish home offices.

In June, food retailing inched up 0.9 per cent, as we spent more in supermarkets and less on alcohol.

Still, “levels in supermarkets and grocery stores remained elevated, with evidence of stockpiling occurring at the very end of June, particularly in Victoria,” the ABS reported.

Similarly, household goods spending dropped last month, but was “significantly above” the levels of a year earlier.

Department store turnover fell 12 per cent after surging in May.

The retail figures come amid more recent signs that consumer confidence is flagging after its initial sharp recovery from the depths of the pandemic.

Westpac’s monthly index declined 6.1 per cent in early July, while the ANZ-Roy Morgan weekly reading has declined for four straight weeks as the recent virus outbreak in Victoria and the associated lockdown in Melbourne have dented hopes of a smooth path out of the COVID recession.