Retail sales increased a seasonally adjusted 1 per cent in April as vehicle sales rebounded strongly but supermarket spending had a surprising fall, Statistics New Zealand figures show.
Vehicle retailing rose a seasonally adjusted 8.1 per cent, or $51 million, in April compared to March, while supermarket andgrocery stores retailing dropped 3.6 per cent, or $43 million.
When vehicle-related industries were removed from the data, the so-called core retail sales actually fell 0.5 per cent, a result described by the ANZ Bank as "particularly weak".
Compared to a year ago, total actual retail sales were up 4.1 per cent, with the core retail sales up just 2.2 per cent.
A sharp 1.2 per cent seasonally adjusted fall in total retail sales in March, and the subsequent rebound in April, were due to the early timing of Easter this year, ANZ said.
"However, the fact that core retail sales not only failed to rebound, but continued to fall in April suggests more underlying weakness in consumer spending than first thought."
While the surge in vehicle retailing drove the strength in total sales during April, the ANZ economists said they were a little surprised to see petrol retailing fall a seasonally adjusted 2.2 per cent given that petrol prices rose by more than 3 per cent in April.
"Perhaps we are seeing a demand response to the high prices," ANZ said.
The 3.6 per cent fall in supermarket and grocery store retailing was also a little surprising and could possibly rebound in May.
Abstracting from monthly volatility, ANZ said it continued to see a picture of rising, price-driven spending on staples and less spending on discretionary items.
The trend measures for most durable components, such as hardware, appliance, and motor vehicle retailing had been falling for some time, ANZ said.
Regionally, Canterbury recorded the highest increase in spending, up $46 million seasonally adjusted, followed by a $34 million rise in Auckland and $23 million rise in Wellington.
Other regions recorded falls in spending over the month.
On a trend basis, the big bellwether Auckland region had been experiencing falling sales since the start of the year, as had Waikato, which was surprising given its exposure to dairy, ANZ said.
