New Zealand February Credit Card Spending Falls 1.0%

(RTTNews) - Overall credit card spending in New Zealand slipped a seasonally adjusted 1.0 percent on month in February, Statistics New Zealand said on Friday.

That missed forecasts for a flat reading following the 2.5 percent increase in January.

Retail credit card spending dipped 0.6 percent, also missing forecasts for -0.4 percent following the 2.7 percent jump in the previous month.

"The fall in total card spending in February was driven by a lull in furniture, electronics, and department store purchases," business indicators senior manager Neil Kelly said.

Spending fell in four of the six retail industries in February. The largest fall came from the durables industry, down NZ$26 million (2.1 percent). This decrease follows a strong NZ$39 million (3.2 percent) increase in January 2017.

The durables industry includes furniture, hardware, electronics, recreational goods, department stores, and pharmaceutical and other retailing transactions.

The largest increase in February was from the fuel industry, up NZ$18 million (2.8 percent).

Core retail spending (which excludes the vehicle-related industries) fell 0.7 percent in February after a 2.7 percent gain in January.

On a yearly basis, retail card spending was NZ$4.8 billion in February, up NZ$121 million (2.6 percent) from a year earlier.

Trends for the total, retail, and core retail series have generally been rising since these series began in October 2002, the bureau said.