Australia Household Spending Remains Flat

(RTTNews) - Australia's household spending remained unchanged in August, official data showed Tuesday.

Household spending registered nil growth in August, following a 1.1 percent rise in July and a 0.9 percent increase in June.

On a yearly basis, growth in household spending eased to 6.8 percent from 7.0 percent in July.

Data showed that recreation and culture spending posted the biggest fall of 1.4 percent after months of higher spending associated with major sporting events.

Clothing and footwear, recreational goods, food, health, and furniture also fell, ABS head of business statistics Tom Lay said.

These falls were offset by a 2.3 percent rise in transport spending, leaving overall household spending unchanged from July, Lay added.

"Both fuel spending and new vehicle sales contributed to this rise, especially electric vehicles sales as households respond to rising fuel prices," said Lay.