Australia retail sales data recap - 'Welcome relief for the economy'

Via Reuters comes this view on the retail slaes data earlier

(Data here: Australia - Retail sales for October: +0.5% m/m (expected +0.3%))

• Outcome augers well for momentum in consumer spending going into the all-important Christmas shopping period
• Welcome news after a run of disappointing figures this week suggested the economy had all but stalled in the third quarter. The robust numbers will help allay concerns about the risk of a more marked slowdown, or even recession, following weak numbers on business investment and construction.
• The retail sector has annual sales of A$290 billion, is the country's second-biggest employer

Savanth Sebastian, economist at CommSec

• "The outlook for the retail sector is certainly better than it was six months ago and the Reserve Bank will be quite comfortable with these results"
• "This retail sales data is probably more forward looking than the recent indicators we've had. From that perspective, it looks like the economy is still doing relatively okay"