NZ: Food and fuel take toll on pocket

Poor Christmas sales rounded off a weak second half of 2007 for retailers as their customers faced higher interest bills and higher prices for necessities such as fuel and food.

Among the big three types of retail outlet, supermarket sales were flat, car yards took a 2.4 per cent drop in sales and only filling stations saw their taking rise, 2.7 per cent.
Results for the December quarter as a whole were also subdued.

In dollar terms sales were up 1.9 per cent, seasonally adjusted, the strongest increase since the March quarter’s rip-roaring 3.3 per cent growth.

But much of the increase reflected higher petrol prices. Sales of automotive fuels were up 15 per cent in the quarter but only 3 per cent higher in volume terms.

Excluding the automotive sector retail sales in the December quarter did not increase at all in volume terms. The September quarter had recorded only 0.1 per cent real growth.

The rise in food and fuel prices, leaving people less to spend on other things, accounts for much of that.

NZ Herald