Retail spending is back, one year after the first severe COVID-19 lockdowns.
Preliminary retail spending figures for April released on Friday show a 1.1 per cent surge, topping economists' expectations of a 0.5 per cent rise.
Jobs growth, the wealth boost for home owners from rising house prices, and cheap credit are supporting confidence.
"Australia is coming back stronger than nearly any other country in the world," Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told reporters.
Strong improvement is no surprise compared to the low point for consumers in April 2020.
Turnover in stores and online in April rose a record 25.1 per cent on a year ago and totalled $31.05 billion - the second highest on record to nearly match a splurge in November last year.
April's preliminary figures follow 1.3 per cent growth recorded by the ABS in March.
The latest rises were led by food retailing (1.5 per cent), following falls in February and March.
Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (2.5 per cent) also rose.
By state, NSW and Victoria led with turnover, rising in all areas except for department stores.
A lockdown in Western Australia in April saw a 1.5 per cent fall in that state.
Australian Retailers Association chief executive Paul Zahra said the recovery was uneven, and some businesses were in a better position than others.
"CBD retailers, particularly small businesses, along with travel retailers are our biggest concern," he said.
They continue to suffer through the absence of international students, tourists, city office workers and skilled migrants to fill positions.
"Our economic recovery will remain uneven as long as international borders remain closed," Mr Zahra said.
NAB chief economist Alan Oster expects it to be difficult to sustain conditions in the retail sector without growth in wages from last year's record lows.
The latest wage figures released this week show only 1.5 per cent growth in the year to March.
However, the latest labour force figures saw the unemployment rate fall again, hitting 5.5 per cent in April but still lagging a pre-pandemic 5.1 per cent.
Since the end of JobKeeper wage subsidies at the end of March, 132,000 people have come off taxpayer support.
"This backed in the government's decision to end the program, which was costing $2 billion a month," Mr Frydenberg said.
"The budget last week was all about creating jobs, but it also involved providing tax relief."
Commonwealth Securities chief economist Craig James said it wasn't hard to work out why Australians were still spending.
"Clearly the closure of foreign borders is also causing more dollars to be spent locally. Those borders don't look like being opened anytime soon - unless you are headed for New Zealand," he said.
But just one-in-five consumers expects the "big-spending" federal budget will improve their finances over the next 12 months.
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