Australian retail sales came in stronger than forecast in the final reading of the series, running counter to recent data that’s supported the Reserve Bank cutting interest rates as early as next month.

Sales jumped 1.2% in June from the prior month, when they climbed an upwardly revised 0.5%, and against a forecast 0.4% gain, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Thursday. This will be the last retail sales report as the ABS focuses on its household spending indicator that provides broader coverage of consumption.

“Today’s final publication comes 74 years after Sir Roland Wilson, Chief Statistician at the time, released the results of the first Retail Trade survey in 1951,” Australian Statistician David Gruen said in a statement. “Sir Roland noted that total Australian retail sales in the September quarter 1950 amounted to £383.2 million – around A$20.5 billion in today’s dollars.”

Money markets are all-but certain the RBA will cut at its Aug. 11-12 meeting in what would be its third easing of the year. The central bank confounded traders and economists earlier this month by standing pat against a heavy expectation for a cut. Governor Michele Bullock signaled that the board wanted to wait to see quarterly inflation data, which came out this week and showed price pressures are abating.

Retail sales have traditionally been an important consideration for monetary policy as consumption accounts for more than half of gross domestic product. But the ABS, in a statement this week, pointed to the steady decline in importance of the current report.

“In 2022-23, Retail Trade data only covered about 33% of household consumption – down from 56% coverage in 1959-60 – as people and households changed the way they shopped and spent,” it said. In contrast, the household spending indicator “offers over 60% coverage of household consumption, including spending on a wide range of services as well as goods.”

The RBA has repeatedly highlighted the outlook for household spending as a key uncertainty in its making of monetary policy.

“Available indicators for the June quarter suggested that growth in household consumption had been slightly below the staff’s expectations,” the bank said in minutes of its July 7-8 board meeting.

Thursday’s data also showed:

• Retail sales by volume rose 0.3% in the three months through June compared with a forecast they would be flat

• Annual retail sales climbed 4.9%

• Non-food related spending drove most of the rise, with gains in all industries led by household goods retailing

• Food-related spending rose after a fall in the prior month