"Good news for retailers with the latest Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Indicator (BSI) recording the strongest growth in almost two years. The BSI – a key measure of economy-wide spending – rose just by just over 0.2 per cent in trend terms in September – the strongest increase in 23 months.
The seasonally adjusted measure of the BSI also posted the third increase in sales in four months, lifting 0.2 per cent in September after a 0.6 per cent increase in August.
There was further encouragement at a sectoral level with just four of the 20 industry sectors contracting in trend terms in September while sales were broadly unchanged in two sectors. Strongest gains were recorded by Wholesale Distributors & Manufacturers, Business Services and Repair Services. Five of the eight states recorded higher sales in trend terms, led by Northern Territory.
The Commonwealth 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."
