WELLINGTON, March 9 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's retail card spending remained at 6.6 billion NZ dollars (4.03 billion U.S. dollars) in February compared with January, when adjusted for seasonal effects, according to data released by the statistics department Stats NZ on Thursday.
Spending rose across most of the retail spending categories. The rises were led by spending on durables, such as furniture, hardware and appliances, and consumables, such as groceries and liquor. Durables rose 2.9 percent while consumables increased 1.2 percent, Stats NZ said.
The only spending category that saw a decrease was apparel, down 3 percent.
The largest contributor to the fall in total seasonally adjusted card spending was the non-retail excluding services category, down 3.9 percent. This category includes transport, travel agents and other tour services, and schools and tertiary education, Stats NZ said.
Electronic card transaction data covers the use of credit and debit cards in shops and online, and includes both the retail and services industries, it said. ■