The latest ABS Retail Trade figures show that Australian retail turnover rose 0.5% in May 2012, seasonally adjusted, following a rise of 0.1% in April 2012.

The majority of industries recorded a rise in May, with cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (1.4%) and household goods retailing (0.8%) the main drivers of the growth. Other retailing (0.7%), department stores and clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (0.5%) also rose.

Food retailing (-0.1%) was the only industry to fall in May, in seasonally adjusted terms. Over the longer term food retailing is still the main contributor to growth (up 0.4% in trend terms) along with cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (up 1.0% in trend terms).

From a state perspective New South Wales (0.7%) recorded it's third consecutive monthly rise, while Western Australia (1.1%) was also up and remains the strongest performing state over the longer term (up 0.7% in trend terms).

Victoria (0.5%), Queensland (0.5%) and the Northern Territory (1.6%) also recorded rises in May, in seasonally adjusted terms. There were falls in South Australia (-0.6%), Tasmania (-1.0%) and the Australian Capital Territory (-0.1%).

The trend estimate for Australian retail turnover rose 0.4% in May 2012 recording it's strongest rise in dollar terms since June 2010. This follows a rise of 0.4% in April 2012 and a rise of 0.4% in March 2012.