SYDNEY, Nov 4 (Reuters) – Australian household spending bounced in September as higher petrol prices ate more of people’s budgets, data showed on Wednesday, while air travel got a boost from major sporting events.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ monthly household spending indicator (MHSI) rose 0.6% in September to A$82.6 billion ($57.55 billion). Analysts had looked for a rise of around 0.2%, after a 0.1% fall in August.
The annual pace of spending growth remained robust at 6.8%, showing resilience to higher borrowing costs. In real terms, spending rose 0.7% in the third quarter, led by air travel.
(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
