Retail sales take a dip
Retail sales fell 0.7% last month, according to the latest electronic transactions data.
Retail sales fell 0.7% last month, according to the latest electronic transactions data.
The fall in FEbruary, which follows an unexpectedly large rise in January, is worth $27 million.
Total transactions ere down 0.3%, or $15 million, while core retail - which excludes the volatile vehicle related sectors - were down 0.5% or $17 million.
The falls follow unexpectedly large increases across all sectors in January, when sales grew 1.0% in both total and core retail.
The largest drop was in the hospitality sector, down 2.5%, a drop worth $15 million.
The trend line for total and retail sales is still rising, said Statistics New Zealand industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno, but it is flattening out.
Rob Hosking
Fri, 09 Mar 2012
Fri, 09 Mar 2012
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Retail sales take a dip
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