Spending in the Australian economy grew at a snail's pace of the first half of 2016.
The Commonwealth Bank's Business Sales Indicator, based on the value of credit and debit card transactions processed through its merchant facilities, rose by just 0.1 per cent on average over the first six months of 2016.
That latest result was in line with that trend, posting a meagre gain of 0.1 per cent in June, according to the figures released on Tuesday.
That was a marked slowdown from the 0.5 per cent monthly average of the second half of 2015.
And it dragged the annual growth rate down to just 4.3 per cent, the slowest for four years, from over seven per cent a year before.
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The latest retail sales figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirm the Commonwealth Bank data's bleak reading.
They show the trend growth rate of retail turnover slowing by half between September and May.
At the same time, the bureau's estimate show household spending power in under pressure.
The total number of hours worked by employees edged lower on a trend basis for the first six months of this year, while growth in wage rates is the slowest on record.
CommSec chief economist Craig James said it was clear that spending had slowed, but positive economic indicators suggested it could soon bounce back to normal.
"This month's data was collected throughout the final weeks of the federal election campaign, which are normally periods of subdued spending," Mr James said.
"It will be interesting to see whether the election result helps to increase spending in the economy."
