Australian retail trade falls 0.1%

Australian retail turnover fell 0.1 percent in November 2012, following a flat month in October, data released on Wednesday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed. The ABS said retail turnover in the month was 21.53 billion AU dollars (22.59 billion U.S. dollars), down from 21.55 billion AU dollars in October. Economists had forecast a rise of 0.3 percent for November. The largest contributor to the fall was household goods retailing (down 0.9 percent), followed by clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (down 0.6 percent) and department stores (down 0.4 percent), the ABS said. The fall was partially offset by 1.0 percent rises in other retailing and a 0.3 percent rise in cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services.