Retail spending to stay sluggish November 4, 2014 - 3:00AM Retail spending is expected to have grown at a fairly weak pace in September, with consumer confidence weak and trading conditions for businesses still tough. Economists expect retail trade to have risen 0.3 per cent per cent in September, when the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases its monthly figures at 1130 AEDT on Tuesday. That follows August's surprisingly weak result when spending grew at only 0.1 per cent, which was less than the 0.4 per cent rise market forecasts were centred on.