Economy-wide spending posts solid gains

The Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Indicator (BSI) rose by 0.6% in trend terms in November after a 0.5% increase in October and 0.4% growth in September.

Economy-wide spending continued to recover in November after a mid-year slowdown. The Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Indicator (BSI), a measure of economy-wide spending, rose by 0.6 per cent in trend terms in November after a 0.5 per cent increase in October and 0.4 per cent growth in September.

Spending growth is now solidly above the longer-term (13-year) trend pace of 0.5 per cent. The annual trend growth in sales eased from 7.1 per cent to 6.8 per cent but this is still above the long-term trend pace of 6.1 per cent.

The more volatile seasonally adjusted measure of the BSI rose for the fourth straight month in November, lifting by 0.9 per cent after a 0.3 per cent gain in October.

At a sectoral level, 17 of the 19 industry sectors rose in trend terms in November, a similar result to October. And sales rose in all eight states and territories in the month.

The Commonwealth Bank BSI is obtained by tracking the value of credit and debit card transactions processed through Commonwealth Bank merchant facilities. The BSI covers spending broadly across the economy rather than just retail sales, including spending on automobiles, personal services and airlines.

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