New Zealand spending slips in October

Source: Xinhua | 2019-11-12

New Zealand retail card spending fell 0.6 percent in October 2019, with less spent on long-lasting goods such as hardware and appliances, as well as a dip in day-to-day spending on food and drinks, the country's statistics department Stats NZ said on Monday.
"This dip in retail spending comes after four months of higher sales," retail statistics manager Sue Chapman said in a statement.
Spending fell across four of the six retail industries. The biggest falls in October were seen for hardware, appliances, department stores, and pharmaceuticals (durables); and groceries and liquor (consumables), Chapman said.
"The falls in spending on longer-lasting goods and day-to-day food and liquor shows how variable these industries can be from month to month. However, compared with the year before, overall card spending has been fairly steady over the last year," Chapman said.
Core retail spending (excluding vehicle-related industries) fell 0.6 percent in October, after a 0.4-percent rise in September, statistics showed.
In actual terms, retail spending using electronic cards was 5.8 billion NZ dollars (3.69 billion U.S. dollars), up 1.6 percent from October 2018.