Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Tuesday showed retail sales fell 3.9% in December from November - the largest drop since August 2020 - to a A$34.5 billion. That missed the median forecast of a drop of 0.3% by a large margin, and November's result, driven by Black Friday sales, was revised up to a rise of 1.7% from an originally reported gain of 1.4%. (Reporting by Stella Qiu; Editing by Kim Coghill)
SYDNEY, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Australian retail sales fell
the most in more than two years in December, as rising prices
and higher interest rates finally had an impact on spending, a
surprisingly soft result that suggests tighter policy is working
as intended.
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