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Australia's Household Spending Rises 1.1% in July

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Australia's household spending rose 1.1% month over month to AU$82.34 billion in July on a current price, seasonally adjusted basis, following a 1% increase in June, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday.

Compared with the prior year period, household spending rose 7% in July.

All nine spending categories rose in the month, led by clothing and footwear, recreation and culture, as well as miscellaneous goods and services.

Goods spending rose 0.7% month over month in seasonally adjusted current price terms, driven by higher expenditure on food, clothing and footwear, as well as medicines, medical aids and therapeutic appliances. Services spending increased by 1.5%, supported by gains in other services, catering services, and recreational and cultural services.

Household spending rose in all eight states and territories in July, with the strongest increases recorded in the Northern Territory at 2.2%, Western Australia at 1.5%, and in Victoria at 1.3%.

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