NZ: Retail spending rose by 2.6% in November – Westpac

Satish Ranchhod, Senior Economist at Westpac said that Wednesday’s New Zealand’s Retail Spending that was a strong result, well ahead of their own and market forecasts. 

Key Quotes:

“New Zealand households ran back to the shops in November, as households rushed to take advantage of global sales events like Single’s Day and Black Friday. That saw retail spending levels rising a massive 2.6% over the month. That was well above our forecast for a 1% rise and the average analyst forecast for a 0.5% increase.

Looking back over the past year, retail spending levels are 5.1% higher than they were this time last year.

Given the extent of the November rise, there’s a chance we’ll see some pull back next month. It looks like the growing prevalence of November sales has prompted price savvy consumers to bring forward their spending from the traditional Christmas shopping period.

Nevertheless, we still expect that the lift in sales levels since August will be sustained through the final part of the year and into 2020. That’s been underpinned by low interest rates and a more general lift in demand in the economy.”