Australia's retail sales rose slightly in November last year, with a 0.3 percent increase following a 0.8 percent drop in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.
The figures showed the Australian economy was slowing down as consumers were fairly cautious with their spending in the lead up to Christmas, said Australia's economists.
"Looking at the data today, it's clear the Australian economy is losing momentum," said economist Savanth Sebastian from Australian financial services firm CommSec.
"It will have a knock on effect... January and February are certainly looking like they will be weak," he said.
The data was compiled after the Nov. 2 interest rate rise by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) of a quarter of a percentage point, to 4.75 percent.
"It isn't just the rate hikes, but the conservative attitudes of consumers having a marked impact," Sebastian said.
While the result was in line with market expectations, forecasts had ranged between a 0.5 percent and a 1.5 percent increase.
Australia's major bank Commonwealth Bank chief economist Michael Blythe said the figures were an indication that consumers were saving rather than spending.
"For whatever reason, the caution appears to be directed towards the retail component of the story and that's what we see in these figures each month," he said.
"I think ultimately the consumer will start spending again because we know that incomes are growing quite strongly at the moment," he added.