Card spending picks up in October

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Kiwis helped bump up spending on electronic cards last month as two major tax changes took effect.

The value of electronic transactions rose a seasonally adjusted 0.9 per cent during October, Statistics New Zealand said.

The value of transactions in the retail industries was up 0.8 percent, lead by an 8.4 per cent increase in fuel retailing.

The rise co-incided with an increase in GST and a hike in a tax consumers pay on fuel, which came into effect at the beginning of the month.

The monthly increase in fuel retailing was the largest since December 2003, Statistics New Zealand said.

Meanwhile spending on durables, including furniture, hardware, and appliance retailing, fell 6 per cent, the largest decease since the series began in October 2002.

Spending on durables rose 4.1 percent in September ahead of the GST rise, and was the main contributor to the 1.5 percent increase in core retail for the month, SNZ said.

Non-retail (which include services such as travel and health, and wholesaling) was up 0.4 percent in October.

The value of transactions in core retailing, which excludes the motor vehicle-related industries) was flat - up less than 0.1 per cent.

Trends for the value of transactions in the total and retail series have both strengthened since July 2010.

The core retail trend has been rising at a monthly average of 0.5 percent since March 2010, after a period of lesser growth.

- NZ HERALD ONLINE