Data points to weak Christmas for retailers

Thursday 13th January 2011

New data points to a poor Christmas for retailers, with seasonally adjusted electronic card transactions falling 1.2% in December from November.

For just retail industries, the fall was a seasonally adjusted 0.9%, while for core retail, which excludes vehicle-related industries, the fall was 1.6%.

Statistics New Zealand said all industries had recorded falls, except for fuel retailing which rose 3.3%.

Electronic card transactions of durable items - including furniture, hardware and appliances - were down a seasonally adjusted 1.2%, while for consumables - such as food and liquor - the fall was 0.6%.

The decline follows increases of at least 1% in the total value of electronic card transactions for each of the preceding three months.

The actual value of transactions in the core retail series was 3.9% higher than in December 2009.

NZPA

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