Retail sales underperform in 2011
Retail sales grew by 3.1 per cent in 2011, failing to outstrip headline inflation and well below the year-on-year average of 5.6 per cent, according to the latest market analysis from HSBC.
Looking at the most recent figures, retail sales growth was flat in November - going against the consensus expectation of +0.4 per cent (and HSBC's prediction of +0.5 per cent).
Over the 2011 calendar year, the strong mining states outperformed the other states when it came to retail sales. Western Australia was up 11 per cent and Queensland recorded 3.9 per cent growth, while New South Wales retail sales grew by only 1.9 per cent in 2011 and Victoria was up 1.2 per cent.
The weak performance of retail sales was largely down to the strength of the mining sector, according to HSBC.
"Not all sectors can grow strongly at once, and with the mining sector going ballistic, others have needed to slow down to make way," said the report.
However, HSBC predicted that with the Reserve Bank of Australia cutting interest rates to below neutral (and with more cuts expected in the future), retail sales should improve in 2012.
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