Housing and tourism push up volumes.
New Zealand retail sales volumes increased in the final quarter of 2015, led by housing and tourism activity.
The volume of retail sales gained a seasonally adjusted 1.2 per cent in the three months through December, from the September quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand. That lags behind the 1.4
per cent forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. Retail sales volumes for the September quarter were revised lower to 1.5 per cent from 1.6 per cent.
The New Zealand dollar slipped to 66.38 US cents, from 66.51 cents immediately before the report was released at 10:45am yesterday.
Core retail volumes, which excludes the more volatile vehicle related industries, increased 1.4 per cent in the December quarter, the agency said.
New Zealand consumer spending is being buoyed by record migration and tourism, low interest rates and a strong housing market. That's helping the economy offset weaker returns for commodities as prices for dairy products, the country's largest goods export, slump below the average farmer's cost of production.
