Total electronic card spending down, core retail up

The seasonally adjusted value of total electronic card transactions decreased 0.5 percent in March 2009 compared with February 2009, Statistics New Zealand said today. During the same period, the value of transactions in the core retail industries (which excludes the motor vehicle-related industries) increased 0.7 percent.

The biggest contributors to the overall decrease were the automotive fuel retailing and non-retail (services, including travel and health, and wholesaling) industries – neither of which are part of core retail. There were small rises in all core retail industries except durables (furniture, hardware, and appliance retailing).

The value of transactions in the retail industries was up 0.3 percent in March 2009, following a 0.5 percent increase in February 2009. There were small rises in all retail industries except automotive fuel retailing and durables.

Trend series for transactions in the total, retail, and core retail industries are all currently flat. The trends for the total and retail series had been declining since August 2008 but appear to have flattened since January 2009. The core retail trend series has been flat since October 2008. Initial trend estimates may be revised and should be used with caution until more data points are available.