KEY POINTS:
Retail sales were up in the quarter to Christmas, due mainly to the high cost of petrol.
Seasonally adjusted total retail sales rose 1.9 per cent in the December 2007 quarter compared with the September 2007 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today.
Sales for the core retailing industries (which exclude vehicle-related sales) rose 0.4 per cent.
The major contributor to this quarter's increase was automotive fuel retailing, with seasonally adjusted sales up 15.1 per cent or $229 million.
During the December quarter, prices for the automotive fuel industry were at their highest since mid-2006. Seasonally adjusted sales volumes in the automotive fuel retailing industry rose 3.0 per cent or $27 million.
Twelve other industries had sales increases this quarter. The largest was in clothing and softgoods retailing, up 5.1 per cent or $32 million.
Eleven industries had sales decreases, the largest being in furniture and floor coverings retailing, down 2.5 per cent or $10 million.
Seasonally adjusted total sales volumes rose 0.3 per cent in the December 2007 quarter compared with the previous quarter.
"It's signalling that it's a pretty weak environment out there for retailers, but it doesn't add any new information," First NZ Capital economist Jason Wong said.
"The Reserve Bank is focussed on inflation, which is still the issue. They've already factored in weaker consumer spending."
Goldman Sachs JBWere economists Shamubeel Eaqub said activity had slowed considerably "and the Reserve Bank has been looking backwards far too much".
"The economy is slowing and the risks are skewed to the downside. We're sticking by our mid-year rate cut forecast."
- additional reporting by NZPA
