Transactions using electronic cards rose 0.7 per cent for retail industries in November from a month earlier, mainly due to a rise in vehicle fuel sales.
Publishing the data today, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) said total electronic card transactions edged down 0.1 percent last month, while in the core retail industries - which exclude vehicle-related industries - transactions rose 0.3 per cent.
Along with vehicle fuel, smaller rises in apparel, services and durables industries also contributed to the rise in retail industry transactions. In contrast, transactions in non-retail industries, which include travel, health, and wholesaling, fell 1.8 per cent last month.
Trends for the value of transactions in the total, retail, and core retail series had all been rising since January, SNZ said.
Latest figures indicated the growth rate for the retail series had picked up since January, but the growth rate for the total series appeared to have eased considerably in recent months.
The flat seasonally adjusted result for total transactions in November followed rises in the four previous month, although the October increase was just 0.1 per cent.
The latest rise for the retail industries is the highest since July 2008, excluding a 0.8 per cent rise in September. The rise in core retail transactions follows a decline of 0.4 per cent in October and rises in the three months before that.
- NZPA
