The latest Infometrics Quarterly Economic Monitor highlights that almost all regional economies continue to grow, driven by population growth and sustained consumer confidence. However, concerns are growing about future growth, with a long, slow, slowdown expected over the next few years.
Category: Retail
Love is in the air, and the wallet
It seems that love was in the air again this year, with Cupid’s arrow aiming as much for people’s wallets as their hearts. Looking around and seeing all the hopeless romantics and their gestures of love ranging from rose bouquets to axe throwing made me question just what all the hype is about?
Do you want to buy an electric car?
The time has come when buying an electric vehicle might be cheaper than getting a petrol car. This article addresses ten questions you might ask about electric vehicles.
A brighter outlook for young people in the services industry
The services industry is a key component of New Zealand’s economy, employing about 400,000 people or 18% of all workers in New Zealand. It relies heavily on young people with 30% of workers aged 15-24. Many of these young people work part time, often to fit work around other commitments like school or tertiary study. Some of these young workers stay on in the sector to become experts in their field, like world renowned chef Josh Emett while others stay for a short period of time, like I did, and learn valuable transferable people skills that can be used in other aspects of their working lives.
Retailers relying on new customers in 2016
Consumer spending will grow at a historically average rate during 2016. However, averages can be misleading, with the composition of spending changing significantly over the year ahead. Low dairy prices, rising unemployment, and weak wage growth are expected to see consumers tighten their belts during 2016 – with individual consumers unwilling to spend in the face of job insecurity and limited income growth.
What have consumers been spending on?
Statistics NZ recently released triennialinformation on spending by households in the June 2013 year. By using thesefigures we can get an idea about how household spending has changed since theGlobal Financial Crisis.
How much more durable good spending is still to come?
Durable good spending has been increasing strongly over thepast year, which is a good sign given that this type of expenditure usuallyleads the economic cycle. How much further does the lift in durable consumergood expenditure have to run, and what effect may the new loan-to-value limitson mortgages have on this form of spending?
Retail sales (ex-gst)
In our latest set of forecasts weincorporated a lift in retail prices following the introduction of GST inOctober 2010. However, the figures produced by Statistics New Zealand exclude GST – implying that the figures will not match up to our forecasts forthe index. This article provides the figures excluding GST – and discusses whyit is useful to look at both series together.