Swift's tour boosts sales but spending otherwise muted

Australian retailers experienced a Taylor Swift spending jump that helped sales lift 0.3 per cent over February.

The result came in slightly below expectations for a 0.4 per cent lift in retail sales in February as recorded by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

In January, retail sales lifted 1.1 per cent, which followed a 2.1 per cent fall in December.

Compared with February last year, retail sales rose 1.6 per cent.

Spending in the lead up to Christmas was largely influenced by the Black Friday sales, which brought festive spending forward to November as shoppers chased down discounted goods.

ABS head of retail statistics Ben Dorber said the Eras tour did boost spending in the month of February.

"Seven sold-out Taylor Swift concerts in Sydney and Melbourne boosted retail spending this month, with over 600,000 Swifties flocking to these events," he said.

"This led to increased spending on clothing, merchandise, accessories and dining out."

Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing lifted 4.2 per cent and department stores grew 2.3 per cent as fans rushed to buy new outfits and accessories for the events.

Mr Dorber said the underlying trend was still weak despite the one-off splurges at music events.

Underlying growth in retail turnover was up only 0.1 per cent in trend terms, with spending stagnant after the volatility seen through November to January.

The ABS also released job vacancies data on Thursday, which is an indicator of labour demand.

The number of job vacancies fell by 6.1 per cent between November 2023 and February, which followed a smaller 0.8 per cent fall in the three months to November.

Job vacancies are now 23.5 per cent lower than they were at their peak in May 2022 but still well above pre-pandemic levels.