The gravity of Tasmania's subdued wages growth looks to have finally caught up with the state's record-breaking retail run.
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Retail turnover declined by $900,000 to $544.5 million in February in trend terms, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated.
In revised figures for earlier months, the ABS estimated statewide turnover had fallen for four months since a record of $546.5 million in October.
That meant October was the last gasp of a 48-month run of turnover growth.
It had previously been thought the growth had lasted at least until January, which would have been a 51st consecutive month of growth.
The reversal of growth came as Tasmanian workers increasingly struggled to stay ahead of inflation.
Hobart inflation - the best available measure for Tasmania - increased by 3 per cent in the year to December.
Tasmanian wages increased by 2.6 per cent in the same period, as measured by the ABS' wage price index.
That meant workers and their families would have tended to have less cash available for discretionary (wants rather than needs) spending.
That said, even spending on groceries weakened in February.
The ABS estimated spending in supermarkets and grocery stores dropped by $200,000 to $210.9 million in February.
That was $900,000 weaker than spending in November.
There are hopes federal tax cuts will boost retail spending.
"We would expect this will get people spending again, which benefits regions like the North-West Coast which are hyper-sensitive to household spending," Devonport Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Dane Layton said.