Falling spending on alcohol, tobacco and recreation has slowed Australia's consumer recovery as the Reserve Bank mulls whether to cut interest rates again.

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Household spending grew 0.1 per cent in August, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed on Thursday, below consensus estimates of a 0.3 per cent rise.

While consumer spending was still trend up - lifting five per cent in the past year - momentum had slowed after a very strong result in the June quarter, CommSec chief economist Ryan Felsman said.

"Higher inflati

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