WELLINGTON, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- New Zealanders spent slightly more at the shops on their credit and debit cards last month, following a flat result in September, the government statistics agency announced Tuesday.
Retail spending using electronic cards rose by 1 percent in October to total 6.4 billion NZ dollars (4.96 billion U.S. dollars) over 124 million transactions, according to Statistics New Zealand.
"Spending rose in all six retail industries during October, the first time this has occurred since May 2014," business indicators manager Neil Kelly said in a statement.
The three largest retail increases in October were durables ( including furniture, hardware and pharmaceuticals), which were up 23 million NZ dollars (17.82 billion U.S. dollars) or 2.1 percent; fuel, up 16 million NZ dollars (12.39 million U.S. dollars) or 2.2 percent; and consumables, up 15 million NZ dollars (11.62 million U.S. dollars) or 0.9 percent.
Core retail spending, which excludes the vehicle-related industries, rose 1.1 percent in October.
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