Australia Household Spending Slips in Sept, Confounding Rebound Hopes

November 1, 2024

By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian household spending fell in September as consumers cut back on clothing and cars, data showed on Friday, further confirmation that billions of dollars in recent tax cuts were being saved rather than spent. That should be a downside surprise to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) which had expected consumption to pick up in the second half of this year and could see it adopt a more dovish tone at a policy meeting next week. "The data looks very weak over the last three months and surprisingly soft," said Gareth Aird, head of Australian economics at CBA. "If the data is close to accurate th...