Australia Retail Sales Jump Surprisingly Strong 1.4% In Nov

Australia Retail Sales Jump Surprisingly Strong 1.4% In Nov

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian shoppers spent big in November as Black Friday sales and online specials spurred demand for clothes, electronics and furniture, a sign consumption was proving resilient to rising interest rates and high inflation.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday showed retail sales jumped 1.4% in November from October to a record A$35.9 billion ($24.74 billion).

That was was more than twice the median forecast of 0.6%, and October’s result was revised up to a rise of 0.4% from an originally reported drop of 0.2%.

($1 = 1.4512 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)