Australians’ spending softened in March after Taylor Swift concert splurge

Commonwealth Bank’s monthly survey of its 7 million retail customers shows event spending almost halved from February to March. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Australians had another “soft” spending month in March with event outlays almost halving from February when numbers were buoyed up by the Taylor Swift concert splurge, CBA’s monthly survey of its 7 million retail customers shows.

The overall CommBank household spending index was up 0.2% in March from the previous month, to 141.8 points. It remained below November’s level, when the Reserve Bank last raised its key interest rate.