WELLINGTON, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Retail spending using electronic cards dipped last month in New Zealand following a rise in April, statistics department Stats NZ said on Monday.
Monthly retail card spending fell 0.4 percent in May compared with April, with the largest fall from the consumables industry, including grocery and liquor retailing, down 12 million NZ dollars (8.62 million U.S. dollars), according to the department.
"The fall in retail card spending in May was driven by an easing of consumables spending, after a record increase in April," business indicators manager Craig Liken said.
Fuel spending was down 11 million NZ dollars (7.9 million U.S. dollars), with lower prices throughout the month, Liken said, adding that the hospitality industry was down 7 million NZ dollars (5 million U.S. dollars).
The core retail spending, which excludes the vehicle-related industries, fell 0.4 percent in May, after a 1.4-percent rise in April.
The total value of electronic card spending, including the two non-retail industries (services, and other non-retail), fell 0.2 percent in May, following a 0.4-percent rise in April, it said.
Trends for the total, retail and core retail series have generally been rising since these series began in October 2002, according to Stats NZ.
In actual terms, retail spending using electronic cards was 5 billion NZ dollars (3.6 billion U.S. dollars) in May, up 5.2 percent from May 2016.
