Australia’s retail turnover has slumped by 0.4 per cent in March, according to the latest figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Following a rally by 1.3 per cent in February, the latest figures show that cloth, footwatre and personal accessory retailing has fallen by 4.2 per cent, while household goods retailing has fallen by 1.4 per cent.

The figures show that department store trade has kept relatively steady, contracting by only 0.1 per cent in the March period.

Queensland recorded the largest drop, recording a 0.8 per cent fall in trade, while Victoria’s trade slumped by 0.6 per cent. New South Wales trade fell by 0.2 per cent, while ]the ACT also fell by 0.8 per cent.

The falls were partially offset by rises in Western Australia, which recorded a 0.2 per cent increase in trade, while South Australia posted a 0.3 per cent growth and the Northern Territory by 0.8 per cent.

Year on year, Australia’s retail trade has grown by 3.2 per cent.

The trend estimate for Australian retail turnover rose 0.4 per cent in March 2013. This follows a rise of 0.4 per cent in February 2013. Through the year, the trend estimate rose 3.3 per cent in March 2013 compared to March 2012.