Retail trade figures out on Friday are expected to show a slowdown in spending growth the month before Christmas following two months of solid gains.

Retail sales are forecast to have edged 0.2 per cent higher in November, weaker than October’s gain of 0.4 per cent, which was driven by a two per cent rise in department store spending.

Westpac economists expect that the surge in electrical and electronic goods should have reversed in November after a big rise in September, when retail sales posted their strongest rise in a decade thanks to the launch of the iPhone 6.

Westpac said a weaker retail spending figures would also be in line with weaker consumer confidence.

AAP