Australia retail sales hit two-year high in Q4, but dip in December

Sydney

AUSTRALIAN retailers boasted their best quarter of sales in two years, a sign that the economy had likely averted its first recession in 25 years, though shoppers turned frugal into the Christmas holiday season.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) out on Monday showed real retail sales for the quarter ended December matched expectations to rise 0.9 per cent, from a flat July to September.