New Zealand Retail Sales Ease 0.5% On Month In July

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New Zealand's retail sales fell a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent on month in July, Statistics New Zealand said on Monday, coming in at 25 million New Zealand dollars. That was sharply below analyst expectations that had forecast a 0.4 percent monthly increase after the 0.1 percent gain in June.

Core retail sales, which excludes automobile sales, also fell 0.5 percent on month to 20 New Zealand dollars - missing expectations for a 0.5 percent increase after the 0.4 percent fall in the previous month.

The biggest changes were both in the motor vehicle-related industries. Automotive fuel retailing fell 2.9 percent or 15 million New Zealand dollars, while motor vehicle retailing rose 2.1 percent or 11 million New Zealand dollars. These industries were the only two with movements exceeding 7 million New Zealand dollars, the data showed. Most industries moved up or down by less than 3 million New Zealand dollars.

In the core industries, the biggest movers were department stores (down 2.2 percent or 7 million New Zealand dollars), recreational goods retailing (up 3.3 percent or 7 million New Zealand dollars), and accommodation (also up 3.3 percent or 7 million New Zealand dollars). Of the 20 core industries, 13 showed sales decreases in July.

The total retail sales trend has increased 0.9 percent since February 2009, after falling 3.3 percent between February 2008 and February 2009. The core retail sales trend has been rising since September 1995 at an average of 0.4 percent per month, the data showed. However, this rate of increase has slowed to 0.2 percent per month since December 2006.

Seasonally adjusted sales were up 0.8 percent in Auckland and down in all other regions. The retail sales trend for the North Island has been rising over the past five months, whereas the South Island trend has been declining since February.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)