Retail sales take a dip
Retail sales fell 0.7% last month, according to the latest electronic transactions data.
Retail sales fell 0.7% last month, according to the latest electronic transactions data.
Retail sales fell 0.7% last month, according to the latest electronic transactions data.
The fall in FEbruary, which follows an unexpectedly large rise in January, is worth $27 million.
Total transactions ere down 0.3%, or $15 million, while core retail - which excludes the volatile vehicle related sectors - were down 0.5% or $17 million.
The falls follow unexpectedly large increases across all sectors in January, when sales grew 1.0% in both total and core retail.
The largest drop was in the hospitality sector, down 2.5%, a drop worth $15 million.
The trend line for total and retail sales is still rising, said Statistics New Zealand industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno, but it is flattening out.