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Australian retail sales rise 0.4 pct in January: report

Xinhua, March 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

Australian retail sales grew by 0.4 percent in January, more than doubling the December results, the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced on Thursday.

Department store spending was the highest with turnover increasing by 2.2 percent and the largest contributor to sales growth was clothing, footwear and personal accessories, which jumped 0.7 percent.

Spending at cafes, restaurants and takeaway services also increased by 2 percent.

However retail food spending was 0.7 percent lower, books, pharmaceuticals and toys were down 0.2 percent and footwear and personal accessory retailing edged down 0.1 percent.

Online retail turnover made up 2.8 percent of the total sales. Endi