Christmas cheer for retailers

QUEENSLAND retail sales led the nation in the latest round of spending statistics, as retailers surge into the makeor- break Christmas season.

October’s retail trade figures showed sales climbed 1.1 per cent in the Sunshine State, well outpacing the national figure of 0.3 per cent growth, seasonally adjusted.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland’s Dan Petrie said the state’s performance was the best month- onmonth result since April 2017.

“( And) the performance of retailers in the last two months has been a stand- out next to comparable states,” he said.

“We have seen a boost to inventory levels which augurs well for the Christmas period, with the green shoots finally starting to appear for the Queensland economy.”

Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing was the strongest category nationally, posting 2.6 per cent growth. In comparison, cafes, restaurants and takeaway food spending slipped 0.9 per cent.

National Retail Association deputy chief executive Lindsay Carroll said the result was encouraging.

“Retail business owners rely very heavily on the pre- Christmas and Boxing Day sales periods to sustain them during the quieter parts of the year,” Ms Carroll said.

“This is also the time when the retail sector is able to create additional jobs or provide more hours to existing workers – that can only happen if the cash registers are ringing in the lead- up to Christmas.

“So although we would ideally like to see ( national) monthly increases of 0.4 or even 0.5 per cent, we welcome the fact these numbers are trending in the right direction.”