Victoria
Struggling With Consumer Confidence
A recent
study into the financial comfort of Australians has shown a significant drop in
Victoria particularly over its traditional rival NSW.
ME Bank says
that unemployment and household wealth are showing better trends in NSW while
Victorian’s continue to stress over their investments and their ability to
survive short term financial emergencies. The latest figures for Victoria show
a 7% slide in comfort levels, the worst in 6 years. The rising cost of fuel,
energy and childcare are major factors for all Australians.
Retail Sales Continue To Struggle
Latest ABS figures show a 0.5% decline
in seasonally adjusted retail sales for December 2017 which has disappointed
many observers.
Household goods retailing fell by 2.6%
with department stores declining by 0.6%. Clothing footwear and personal accessories
fell by 0.4% while food retailing was up by 0.7%.
Food continues to grow at the expense
of clothing.
Meanwhile online sales grew by 1% in
December.