AUSTRALIAN retail sales surged past forecasts for a second month in November as consumers splashed out their pentup savings, a reminder of how well the economy was doing before an explosion of coronavirus cases cast a pall over Christmas. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics out yesterday showed retail sales jumped 7.9 percent in November, adding to an already stellar 4.9 percent rise in October as much of the country emerged from a tough pandemic lockdown. It blew away expectations of a 3.9 percent gain and left sales 5.8 percent up on November last year at a record A$33.41 billion (US$24.00 billion), a major boost to economic growth in the quarter. Pentup demand combined with an extended November sales period to drive record sales in clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing, household goods and department stores. “Consumers brought forward Christmas spending to take advantage of sales and minimize delivery and stock availability concerns ahead of the festive season,” noted Ben James, the ABS’ director of quarterly economy wide statistics. Some slowdown had always been expected in December as increasingly popular Black Friday sales pulled spending forward into November, but the sudden emergence of the Omicron strain has proved a whole new burden for the sector. Shops and restaurants have seen a self-imposed lockdown from consumers as cases ballooned to over 100,000 a day, while isolation rules for contacts has blown a hole in supply chains and emptied supermarket shelves. Analysts at ANZ say spending on the banks’ cards in the first week of January sank to its lowest since the Delta lockdowns, with Sydney and Melbourne particularly badly hit. ANZ’s latest survey of consumer sentiment out yesterday duly showed a 2.2 percent drop for last week as confidence in the economy slammed into reverse. (SD-Agencies) | 