Retail spending around the country rebounded in May, but largely because of the recent fuel price hikes which saw fuel spending up 4.8%.
Retail spending, using electronic cards, was up 3.2% or $143million to $4.6 billion in May, compared with a year ago, with spending up in five of the six retail categories, data from Statistics New Zealand showed.
Westpac senior economist Felix Delbruck said when fuel spending was excluded, the core spending was up by ''a fairly anaemic'' 0.4%, which in itself only partly made up for a 0.9% decline booked in April.
''All in all, it does appear that retail activity has lost momentum after the very strong growth seen over the March quarter,'' Mr Delbruck said.
Fuel spending was up 4.8%, consumables up 0.6%, durables rose 0.9%, hospitality was flat and apparel spending down by 0.8%.
While consumers had ''liberally spent'' the windfall from cheaper petrol prices in the quarter to March, that windfall had since eroded, with petrol prices now 18% up from February lows, he said.
ASB economist Kim Mundy said hospitality spending in May was unchanged from April, registering no growth for two consecutive months.
''However, we expect hospitality spending to regain its recent growth in June, as a result of the U20 Football World Cup.''
