New Zealand Overall Card Spending Falls 0.3%

(RTTNews) - Overall credit card spending in New Zealand slipped a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent on month in November, Statistics New Zealand said on Friday.

That missed expectations for a gain of 0.1 percent following the 0.5 percent increase in October.

Retail card spending sank 0.1 percent on month to NZ$5.2 billion versus forecasts for a gain of 0.4 percent following the 0.6 percent increase in the previous month.

The largest increase came from the consumables industry, up NZ$101 million (5.8 percent).

"We are not sure how sales may have been affected by the 14 November, 7.8 magnitude earthquake in the upper South Island, which also caused ongoing disruption in central Wellington," business indicators senior manager Neil Kelly said.

Individually, the largest movements in November were: fuel, up NZ$14 million (2.5 percent); consumables, up NZ$14 million (0.8 percent); and apparel, down NZ$10 million (3.2 percent).

Core retail spending (which excludes the vehicle-related industries) fell 0.4 percent in November after a 0.2 percent rise in October.