The total value of retail sales in New Zealand advanced a seasonally adjusted 2.7 percent on quarter in the first quarter of 2015, Statistics New Zealand said on Thursday – standing at NZ$19.3 billion.
The headline figure topped forecasts for an increase of 1.8 percent following the 1.7 percent gain in the three months prior.
Fuel retailing, down due to lower prices, was the only retail industry to have lower sales, the bureau said.
After removing the impact of price changes, total retail sales volumes rose 7.4 percent on year.
“This is the largest volume increase in dollar terms since this series began just over a decade ago,” acting business indicators manager Tehseen Islam said.
All 15 industries had higher sales volumes, the stats bureau noted.
The largest seasonally adjusted industry sales volume movements were: electrical and electronic goods retailing, up 8.9 percent; fuel retailing, up 3.5 percent; and hardware, building and garden supplies, up 3.9 percent.
“For the first time in almost 10 years, every industry had a seasonally adjusted rise,” Islam said.
“Electrical and electronics stores had a really strong quarter. Our discussions with retailers suggest that there’s no one thing in particular behind this, but there may be a strengthening back-to-school effect. This seems to mean that spending on things like laptops and tablets is having an impact on overall spending at the start of the school year.”
The volume of sales in core retail (which excludes the vehicle-related industries) rose a record 2.9 percent.
Also on Thursday, the latest survey from Business NZ showed that the manufacturing sector in New Zealand continued to expand in April, albeit at a slower pace, with a PMI reading of 51.8.
That was down from the upwardly revised 54.6 in March (originally 54.5), although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
New Zealand’s manufacturing sector has now been in expansion for 31 straight months, Business NZ said.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com