Z1P- Let the $4 party return, page-443

Retails sales news today.

Australia Retail Sales Fall More than Expected. Retail sales in Australia dropped by 0.5 percent month-over-month in December 2019, compared to market estimates of a 0.2 percent drop and after an upwardly revised 1.0 percent in the previous month. This was the first decline in retail trade since December 2018, reflecting some effects from bushfirres and November's Black Friday sales. There were falls in sales for department stores (-2.8% vs 3.7% in November); cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (-0.9% vs 0.9%); clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (-1.5% vs 3.2%), food retailing (-0.3% vs 0.7%); and household goods retailing (-0.3% vs 1.2%). These falls were partially offset by a rise in other retailing (0.2% vs -0.4%)