Consumer spending was resilient in September, with last month’s growth following on from fairly strong nominal growth in prior months, according to Alan Oster (pictured above), NAB’s chief economist.
NAB’s monthly transaction data showed spending continued to increase modestly in September, up 0.3% month-on-month, after a 1.4% rise in August (revised from 0.8%), with retail spending in line with the overall result at 0.4% month over month.
Discretionary spending moderately rose in the month, while non-discretionary spending rebounded after a small dip in August. Both categories remained higher in three-month average terms.
Essential services saw a 1.1% increase in spending in September, while spending on vehicles and fuel was up month over month. Other spending’ category slipped 1.1% month over month. Across the goods categories, total spending lifted 0.8% month over month, while spending across services fell 0.2%.
“Higher fuel prices have contributed to spending, but growth remains positive when fuel is excluded. On the other hand, some discretionary categories have been declining, including arts, recreation an travel, and transport services,” Oster said in a media release.
“For Q3 as a whole, our transaction data suggests total spending rose around 3% in nominal terms. Even allowing for the impact of inflation, this suggests real consumption growth may have remained surprisingly resilient through the quarter despite the pressures on household budgets.”
Across the states, spending in September increased in all except Queensland and the Northern Territory. In three-month average terms, spending was up in all states, with ACT posting the strongest growth at 3.7% and NT the weakest at 0.7%.
Business credits, meanwhile, had a 0.8% uptick in September compared to the prior month (0.7% when excluding mining and agriculture). Credits were up 0.6% over three months but were slightly lower the previous year. Notable declines had been recorded in information and media and arts and recreation, while utilities bounced back up after a large fall in August, NAB data showed.
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