Consumer confidence returning as retail and housing figures improve

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/09/consumer-confidence-returning-retail-housing

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The acting treasurer, Mathias Cormann, has cited better-than-expected retail trade figures and housing approval data as evidence that consumer confidence is returning to the economy.

Retail trade rose by 0.7% – to $22.459bn – in November, the fourth hefty rise in a row, figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed.

The value of housing approvals was $7.82bn, up by $1.45bn for the month and up 22.2% from a year earlier.

"These are all positive indications that consumers are growing more confident in the direction of the Australian economy," Senator Cormann said in a statement on Thursday.

But he warned the economy was growing below trend while unemployment was too high and trending up.

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