Australia Spending Flat, Fuel Surge Masks 0.3% Drop

The ABS released August household spending data showing spending flat at 0.0% after a 1.1% rise in July and a 0.9% rise in June. Annual growth eased to 6.8% from 7.0%. Fuel spending surged 8.1% after the full restoration of federal fuel excise duty on August 3. Excluding fuel, spending would have fallen 0.3%. Experimental fuel volume fell 0.5% after a 4.6% decline in July. Transport spending rose 2.3%. Recreation and culture fell 1.4%, clothing and footwear fell 1.0%, and alcoholic beverages and tobacco fell 1.0%. Goods spending rose 0.3%. Services spending fell 0.3%. Discretionary spending fell 0.3%. Tom Lay said, "Recreation and culture spending saw the largest fall – down 1.4% – after months of higher spending associated with major sporting events." Contested: no factual disputes found.