By James Glynn
SYDNEY--Australian household spending weakened sequentially in December as consumers likely mulled the prospect of higher interest rates and took a breather after a busy retail sales period in late November.
The household spending indicator fell 0.4% in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Monday.
The fall followed a 1.0% rise in November and 1.4% increase in October. Household spending on the year, however, remained high, rising 5.0% compared with December 2024.
The data comes after the Reserve Bank of Australia announced an increase in interest rate last week citing nagging inflation fueled in part by robust consumer demand.
The weakness in December will likely cool some of the speculation in markets about a follow-up interest rate hike in May.
"Household spending declined in December. We saw high spending in October and November, which had major sales and cultural events boost spending," said Tom Lay, head of business statistics at the ABS.
"The fall in December indicates that households brought forward purchases during sales events in October and November," he added.
The declines were across a range of categories including discretionary items such as electronics, clothing and furniture, as well as essential items like healthcare, the data showed.
The biggest fall was in clothing and footwear, down 2.4% in December, according to the data.
Write to James Glynn at james.glynn@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-08-26 2014ET
