The value of retail sales in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.9 percent on month in September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday - coming in at A$35.874 billion.
That blew away forecasts for an increase of 0.3 percent and was up sharply from the upwardly revised 0.3 percent in August (originally 0.2 percent).
Individually, sales rose for food, household goods, clothing, department store items, and other retail; sales were flat for cafes and restaurants.
On a yearly basis, retail sales rose 2.0 percent.
