SYDNEY, May 28 Reuters Australian retail sales crept higher in April as shoppers stayed frugal in the face of high borrowing costs and rising rents, another sign household spending will add little to economic growth this quarter.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics ABS on Tuesday showed retail sales rose 0.1 in April from March, when they fell 0.4. Analysts had looked for a rise of 0.2.

Since the start of 2024, trend retail turnover has been flat as cautious consumers reduce their discretionary spending, said Ben Dorber, ABS head of retail statistics.

Looking across the past two months, we see weak underlying spending in most parts of the retail industry.

April39;s sales of A35.7 billion 23.78 billion were up a sluggish 1.3 from a year earlier.

That growth is particularly miserly given Australia39;s population is expanding by more than 2 a year. Sales volumes per capita have fallen for seven straight quarters, the type of weakness usually only seen in recessions.

This is partly due to higher mortgage rates and rising rents, which are eating into spending power.

Costs for services not covered by the retail data have also been rising much faster than goods prices, including everything from insurance, to education, health and electricity.

The stubbornness of service inflation is a major reason the Reserve Bank of Australia RBA is considered unlikely to lower borrowing costs at all this year.

Futures imply around a 30 chance of a quarter point cut in the…