RTTNews reports that the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that the value of retail sales in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 1.4 percent on month in March, coming in at A$30.724 billion.

That beat expectations for an increase of 1.0 percent following the 0.8 percent decline in February.

Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (6 percent) led the industry rises, which were driven by Victoria and Western Australia. Similarly, these states saw rises for Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing, and Department stores. These rises were offset by a 1 percent fall in Food retailing.

For the first quarter of 2021, retail sales were down 0.1 percent.