-
Source: Reuters -
Related
Spending on electronic cards dipped slightly in February, according to Statistics New Zealand.
Core retail, excluding motor vehicle-related industries, was flat, down just 0.2% compared with January 2010.
Statistics says the decrease reflects flat or falling sales in all the core retail industries, except consumables such as food and alcohol.
Transactions in the retail industries were down 0.4% for the month. Fuel sales declined 1.3% after being the main contributor to increases in the retail series from August 2009 to January this year.
Including non-retail industries, the total value of transactions was down 0.3%.
ASB Economist Christina Leung says the figures show that consumer spending remains subdued.
"The recovery in household spending perhaps being more gradual than we had been expecting. In particular, spending on durables remains soft, suggesting households are continuing to hold off on purchases of big-ticket items," she says.
