Surprise rise in retail sales Customers are coming back to department stores. Retail sales grew 0.4 per cent in August, surpassing economists' expectations of a 0.3 per cent rise, on the back of strong sales in department stores. Sales in department stores soared by 6.4 per cent. Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food sales also performed well, lifting by 0.4 per cent. Clothing, footwear and personal accessories registered a rise of 0.3 per cent for the month, while food retailing grew by 0.1 per cent. "Consumers have started to get their groove back," Moody's Analytics associate economist Katrina Ell said. The warming property market is lifting confidence and encouraging higher discretionary spending given the family home is typically a household's largest asset. But the monthly growth was weighed down by a decline in sales of household goods and other retailing, which includes newspapers and books, and pharmaceutical and cosmetic goods. Overall retail turnover strengthened by a seasonally adjusted 2.3 per cent from the previous corresponding month. The dollar rose about one-tenth of a cent to the day's high of 92.29 US cents on the back of the retail data. Internet spending slipped a seasonally adjusted 0.1 per cent in August, according to the National Australia Bank's online sales index. More to come