Retail sales in Australia rose 2.0 percent on the month in November after falling 0.2 percent in October, with year-over-year growth picking up from 1.2 percent to 2.2 percent. Officials noted that sales in November strengthened sharply after weak growth in October because consumers are increasingly tending to concentrate their holiday spending during Black Friday sales in late November. Officials also note that these changes in consumer behaviour are impacting how they adjust sales data for seasonality around this time of year.
 
Sales advanced at a pace relatively close to the national average in nearly all states and territories. Sales also recorded positive growth across all major categories, but the strongest increases were recorded by household goods retailing, clothing retailers, and department stores.

Retail sales in November are expected to rebound 1.2 percent on the month after October's 0.2 percent unexpected dip.

Retail sales measure the total receipts at stores that sell durable and nondurable goods. The Retail Business Survey covers all employing retail trade businesses who predominantly sell to households.

With consumer spending a large part of the economy, market players continually monitor spending patterns. The pattern in consumer spending is often the foremost influence on stock and bond markets. For stocks, strong economic growth translates to healthy corporate profits and higher stock prices. For bonds, the focus is whether economic growth goes overboard and leads to inflation. Ideally, the economy walks that fine line between strong growth and excessive (inflationary) growth.

Retail sales not only give you a sense of the overall picture, but also the trends among different types of retailers. Especially strong apparel or electronics sales can indicate strength in those industries, for example. These trends from the retail sales data can help you spot specific investment opportunities, without having to wait for a company's quarterly or annual report.