The Australian dollar continues its ascent against the US dollar. The current AUDUSD exchange rate stands at 0.6621.
Retail sales volume in Australia for October dropped by 0.2% m/m, contrasting with the earlier rise of 0.9%. However, the index had been forecasted to grow by 0.1%.
This is an extremely weak report. The Reserve Bank of Australia will need to study this data in detail to take appropriate measures. Households are increasingly likely to save money, waiting for sales in November and December to purchase necessary goods. This will impact the retail market.
The labour market still demonstrates a lack of available workforce. This supports wage growth and maintains sustainable inflation within the country.
It seems like the RBA will need to address a complicated problem.