Monday 14th February 2011 |
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New data confirms indications that shoppers were cautious in the run up to Christmas.
Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) said that in the December quarter the volume of retail sales fell a seasonally adjusted 0.4%, while value edged down 0.1%.
The largest volume decline was in vehicle and parts retailing, which is not seasonally adjusted, with a fall of 8.2%, after the sector had recorded the largest sales volume increase in the March, June and September quarters.
Fuel sales volume, also not seasonally adjusted, rose 6.4% in the latest quarter, and supermarket and grocery stores gained 1.9%.
Core retail volumes, which exclude vehicle-related industries, edged up less than a seasonally adjusted 0.1%, while core retail value was down 0.1%.
It was the first quarterly fall for both core retail and total retail values since the March 2009 quarter, SNZ said.
Vehicle and parts retail value fell 8.2% for the December quarter from the previous three months, while the furniture, floor, houseware, and textiles group fell 9.7%, and hardware, building and garden supplies were down 2.9%.
Fuel retail values rose 10.4%, while supermarket and grocery store values were up 2.4%.
The volume of actual retail sales was 0.1% lower in the December quarter from a year earlier at $17.6 billion, while the value was up 1.5%.
For just the month of December seasonally adjusted total retail sales fell 1.1% from November, with core sales down 1.2%.
The hardware, building, and garden supplies group had a sales fall of 11.3% for the month, and supermarket and grocery store sales fell 2.9%, while pharmaceutical and other store-based retailing lifted 7%.
Vehicle and parts sales fell 3.8% in the December month, while fuel lifted 2.8%.
Goldman Sachs economist Philip Borkin said the data confirmed the Christmas shopping period was tough for retailers.
ANZ economist Mark Smith also noted it had not been a good Christmas shopping season, but said the flat core volumes figure was likely to downplay fears of a recession in the second half of 2010.
NZPA
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