It's official - Australia has shrugged off the looming threat of recession.

Figures out today have shown a slight increase in economic growth in the March quarter.

The national accounts released on Wednesday showed gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.4 per cent in the March quarter. A recession is defined as two consecutive negative quarters.

The economy may have avoided a recession in the statistical sense, but shoppers still seem to be cautious about spending their dollars. With half-yearly sales starting today, retailers expected queues outside their doors. However, there was no fear of any crush, with shops reporting sales to be quiet in the morning.

Supermodel Miranda Kerr opened the city's Elizabeth street David Jones store at 7am (AEST) on Wednesday to little fanfare.

At 7.30am, there were only a few more shoppers than sales staff.

At Myer it was just as quiet, with one shopper mistakenly believing he had walked into the store before it was open for business.

"I came in at ten past seven," banker Mohan Soundar told AAP.

"It was absolutely quiet.

Until yesterday most economists had expected today's national accounts data to reveal that Australia is technically in recession, after GDP shrank by 0.5 per cent in the December quarter.

But positive balance of payments figures for the March quarter, which showed strong net exports and a 27 per cent contraction in the current account deficit, led to revised forecasts.

ANZ's head of Australian economics Warren Hogan said the Federal Government's economic stimulus measures and interest rate cuts have allowed consumers to spend.

"I think really what we're seeing here is that very rapid policy response putting a floor under demand in the economy, putting a floor under growth in the economy," he said.

"We're well-positioned but it's certainly way too early to be talking about a sustained recovery in this economy."