Retail sales provide further evidence of a recovery, but BNZ sounds a note of caution, KARYN SCHERER reports.
Fears that consumers might put away their wallets after a post-Christmas spend-up have proved unfounded. Total retail sales were up by 2.2 per cent in February from a year earlier, according to the
latest data from Statistics New Zealand.
With motor vehicle sales and servicing excluded, sales were up by 3 per cent on the same basis.
Almost all retailers had a good month, continuing the trend which began at the end of last year.
Department stores, in particular, continued to boom, with sales up by 12 per cent compared to last February. It is the third month in a row that department stores have had double-digit growth.
Department stores, including major retailers such as The Warehouse and Farmers, now account for about 6 per cent of total retail sales, compared with 4 per cent in 1990.
Chemist shops were the only retailers to have a bad month. The accommodation, hotels and liquor category was also down, but this was blamed on a change in payment dates for accommodation fees at some tertiary institutions.
On a regional basis, Canterbury continued to show the strongest growth in February, with motor vehicle sales excluded. Auckland also had a buoyant month, and Wellington was up slightly. Waikato showed a sharp decline, offsetting a sharp increase in January.
The rest of the North Island was static, while the rest of the South Island showed strong growth.
The figures were greeted by most economists as further evidence of a solid economic recovery.
However, the BNZ expressed concern about seasonally-adjusted figures, which appeared to show a decline in core spending.
"Although confidence indicators would suggest otherwise, it is likely that some of the momentum in the consumer led recovery has run out of steam," it suggested.
