Some hope for battered retail sector
In a sign of hope for the battered retail sector, transactions using electronic cards surged a seasonally adjusted 2.2 percent in January.
In a sign of hope for the battered retail sector, transactions using electronic cards surged a seasonally adjusted 2.2 percent in January.
In a sign of hope for the battered retail sector, transactions using electronic cards surged a seasonally adjusted 2.2 percent in January.
That was the largest rise in five years and followed a fall of 1.2 percent in December, Statistics New Zealand said today.
For just the retail industries, and for the core retail sector which excludes vehicle-related industries, the increase was 2.4 percent in both cases.
It was the largest increase in retail since January 2006 and followed a 0.8 percent fall in December. The core retail rise was the biggest since December 2002, and followed a fall of 1.6 percent in December which was the largest fall since November 2002.
The actual value of transactions in the core retail series was up 5.2 percent in January from a year earlier.
The January increase in core retail was led by a 1.3 percent rise consumables, which includes food and liquor, and a 1.8 percent rise in durables such as furniture, hardware, and appliance retailing.