Wellington, Mar 9 (IANS): New Zealand's retail card spending remained at NZ$6.6 billion ($4.03 billion) in February compared with January, when adjusted for seasonal effects, according to data released by the statistics department on Thursday.

Stats NZ said that pending increased across most of the retail spending categories, reports Xinhua news agency.

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 per cent while consumables increased 1.2 per cent, Stats NZ said.

The only spending category that saw a decrease was apparel, down 3 per cent.

The largest contributor to the fall in total seasonally adjusted card spending was the non-retail excluding services category, down 3.9 per cent.

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.