Stats NZ: January spending flat

Retail spending in January was flat but overall spending during the month was driven up by an increase in fuel prices, according to electronic spending data released today.

The seasonally adjusted value of electronic card transactions in core retail, which excludes the motor vehicle-related industries, was down 0.1 percent, in January, compared with December 2009, Statistics New Zealand said.

While there was a flat result in core retail, a strong increase in the fuel retailing industry led to a 0.5 percent rise in overall retail, business statistics manager Kathy Connolly said.

Since September, the retail price of petrol has generally been increasing.

When the non-retail industries are included, the total value of transactions was up 1.1 percent, the largest monthly increase since last July.

The non-retail industries, which include services such as travel and health, and wholesaling, were up 5.1 percent in January.

Trends for the value of transactions in the core, retail, and total series have all been increasing since January 2009.

Latest figures indicate that growth in the core retail series has flattened in recent months, up 1.3 percent since June 2009.

The retail series increased by 0.6 percent in each of the last four months, which is the fastest rate of growth since December 2007.

- NZPA