UPDATE: NZ have 'frugal Christmas' with retail spending down in December

Thu, 12 Jan 2017

(Update pars 1 to 5 to re-angle on retail spending, includes Westpac comment) By Rebecca Howard Jan. 13 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand seasonally adjusted retail spending on electronic cards eased more than expected despite the Christmas holiday. Retail spending fell a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent last month, after a 0.1 percent fall in November and a 0.5 percent rise in October, Statistics New Zealand said. “It seems New Zealanders had a frugal Christmas,” said Westpac Bank senior economist Satish Ranchhod in a note. “This was m...

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