Fuel boosts retail card spending

Electronic card spending in the retail industries rose 3.0 percent in August 2012, when adjusted for seasonal effects, Statistics New Zealand said today. Fuel retailing (up $67 million or 10.8 percent) was the main contributor to this rise, but there were also smaller increases in all other retail industries.

"This month's increase in fuel spending is the biggest monthly increase in this industry since the beginning of the series, in October 2002," acting industry and labour statistics manager Tehseen Islam said. "It also coincided with increases in the price of both petrol and diesel."

Total core retail spending (which excludes the motor vehicle-related industries) rose 1.0 percent in August 2012, boosted by increases in all industry groups. Hospitality, up $13 million (2.0 percent), and consumables, up $12 million (0.8 percent), had the largest increases.

The total value of electronic card spending rose 2.4 percent.

The trends for both the retail and total series are positive and remain strong. The core retail trend is also positive, but has weakened in recent months.