Retail card spending declines and this time covid's not to blame

Something changed in December, when there was a steep decline in spending. (Image: Getty)

Wed, 18 Jan 2023

After eight consecutive months of increases, retail spending finally began to show the strain of higher interest rates and gloomy economic sentiment in December. The 2.5% decline in seasonally adjusted retail card spending was a big drop-off compared to the previous eight months, which saw steady month-on-month increases.Aside from a period of covid disruption, card spending increased every month throughout 2021 and 2022 as the economy defied expectations of a prolonged pandemic-induced recession, fuelled by money printing and record low i...

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