The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) business sales indicator (BSI) for June rose by 2.5 per cent, in seasonally adjusted terms.
No state recorded weaker sales in June, in trend terms, with the strongest result in the Australian Capital Territory (2.1 per cent).
Western Australian and South Australia, which have both increased their BSI for 11 straight months, were up 1.2 per cent, while Queensland grew for the 12th consecutive month and was up 0.9 per cent.
New South Wales (0.5 per cent) and Victoria (0.6 per cent) also grew for the 11th consecutive month. Tasmania was up by just 0.1 per cent.
The BSI tracks the value of credit and debit card transactions made through CBA systems and represents about a third of total market spending.I
t also showed spending soared 10.1 per cent this year from a year ago, the biggest annual gain in more than four years.
The results show that consumers are still spending, albeit cautiously, Commonwealth Bank's local business banking executive Matt Comyn said.
``Small surges in consumer sentiment can result in spending increases, which is what we have seen throughout the year, and again in the June results,'' he said.
``While these improvements are gaining traction, consumer confidence still remains fragile.''
The report's author, Commsec chief economist Craig James, said the Reserve Bank of Australia's back-to-back rate cuts in May and June and the government's carbon tax household compensation payments helped boost spending.
``The improvement in household budget s has enticed consumers to spend more freely, and businesses across an array of sectors have benefited,'' he said in a statement.
The RBA cut the cash rate by half a per cent in May and a quarter of a per cent in June, before leaving it steady at its meeting on July 3.
(Source: Rashida Yosufzai, AAP)