National retail spending rose 2.7 per cent year-on-year in June, thanks to increased spending on clothing, footwear and personal accessories, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics trade figures.

Monthly retail turnover rose 0.4 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms from the previous month following a rise of 0.1 per cent in May and a fall of 0.1 per cent in April. In trend terms, the increase was a slight 0.2 per cent. This follows a rise of 0.2 per cent in May and a rise of 0.2 per cent in April.

Seasonally adjusted, retail spending was at $27.44 billion in June.

Spending on clothing, footwear and personal accessories posted the biggest seasonally adjusted rise in June, with department stores the only retail sector to record a decline.

“There were rises in five of the six industries this month, although overall the retail environment remains subdued,” said Ben James, ABS director of quarterly economy wide surveys.

Rises were seen in clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing at 2.0 per cent, other retailing at 0.6 per cent, cafes, restaurants and takeaway services at 0.5 per cent, food retailing at 0.1 per cent and household goods retailing at 0.2 per cent. Department stores was the only industry to fall this month – down 0.6 per cent.

“June is a busy month for retail with End of Financial Year sales where retailers offered huge discounts on stock before June 30 arrived which no doubt helped with this rise,” said Dominique Lamb, CEO of the National Retail Association.

In seasonally adjusted terms, there were rises in New South Wales (0.3 per cent), Western Australia (0.8 per cent), Queensland (0.4 per cent), Victoria (0.3 per cent), Tasmania (1.5 per cent), and the Australian Capital Territory (0.3 per cent). South Australia (-0.3 per cent) and the Northern Territory (-0.2 per cent) fell in seasonally adjusted terms in June 2019.

For the June quarter 2019, there was an underwhelming rise of 0.2 per cent in seasonally adjusted volume terms, hinting that tough times will continue for business owners. This follows a fall of 0.1 per cent in the March quarter 2019.

The quarterly rise in volumes was led by department stores (1.4 per cent), cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (0.5 per cent), clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (0.7 per cent), other retailing (0.4 per cent), and household goods retailing (0.1 per cent). Food retailing (-0.4 per cent) fell in seasonally adjusted volume terms.

“It should be noted that the cuts to income tax and the latest reduction to interest rates were not included in this round of figures. So when these measures are factored in from next month onwards, we’re hopeful that it will mean that retail is out of its slumber and ready to surge in the second-half of 2019,” Lamb said.

“The retail sector should see a rise in sales during the month of July due to shoppers eagerly spending their tax returns.”