The volume of retail sales in Canberra has shrunk for the first time in almost two years, contributing to the deepest nationwide decline in more than three decades, outside the pandemic.
In a result that adds to evidence that households are buckling under the pressure from high inflation and interest rates, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the volume of retail purchases in the ACT fell 0.3 per cent in the June quarter, the first such drop since mid-2021.
