By Tom MurtaghPublished April 08, 2020 05:01:51It has been a year that has been plagued by the worst year in the history of the country’s economy.
On the one hand, the New Zealand Retail Council (NZRSC) says its retail industry has lost over 2 million jobs, and that has led to a dramatic drop in demand from consumers, which has driven prices down.
On a different hand, some economists are warning that the country could lose more than half of its annual GDP by 2021 if the economy remains stagnant.
This has led some businesses to cut staff levels, which could hit retail sales.
And as a result, the NZRSC says it will cut its forecast for the economy by about 1 per cent, to around $3 billion by 2021.
This means that New Zealand will see its second consecutive annual fall in economic growth.
But what exactly has been happening in the country over the past year?
And what is driving this downturn?
Well, a lot of people, like me, are wondering.
Why are so many retailers down?
Why are there so many vacancies in retail?
What is the economy actually doing?
Why have so many people suddenly decided to quit?
It has become increasingly clear that the economy is not doing as well as people would like.
But the truth is much more complicated than that.
Here is a look at what has happened in the past six months:January 19, 2020:The first week of the New Year, retail sales in the first half of the year fell by more than 50 per cent.
That followed a record-low sales growth rate of 2.4 per cent in December.
December 31, 2020 : A major hit to sales was the drop in the New Years Day average of $11.15 in the Auckland suburbs.
December 29, 2020 (Easter weekend): This was the first time in New Zealand history that fewer people were buying Christmas presents.
January 18, 2021: It is the first week that sales fell by as much as a third.
January 17, 2021 (Friday): The worst month for sales in New York, as well.
January 12, 2021 : A year on, the economy appears to be starting to catch up to the New York experience.
January 10, 2021, New Year’s Day: The biggest week of sales in nearly a decade.
January 9, 2021.
A drop of 6 per cent for the first five days of the month.
January 8, 2021 (Friday): An 8 per cent fall in sales in Wellington, which was a significant drop from the previous year.
January 7, 2021The New Year is typically a tough time for retailers, as the market is in a lull.
It is particularly so for supermarkets, as they typically have higher sales and a bigger margin on their product.
The most recent data from the NZRI shows that the average price of a loaf of bread fell by $3.30 in the last 12 months.
The same for a basket of fresh fruit and vegetables by $1.40.
But retail sales are not the only area of the economy that are seeing an improvement.
There are many factors that have contributed to the decline in the economy.
These include:New Zealand’s ageing population, a severe downturn in the mining sector, the impact of the global financial crisis, the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), and the introduction to the national broadband network.
But all of these factors are likely to be in play for the coming year.
In particular, the recent global economic downturn has hit New Zealand’s economy particularly hard.
For the past 12 months, the GDP growth rate in the region has been lower than the rest of the world.
That has led many retailers to reduce staff levels and to look for other places to source their goods.
Many retailers have also decided to move production overseas.
For example, the Gap, which sells women’s clothing, has been sourcing its goods from South Korea for years, in a bid to avoid a reduction in workforce numbers.
However, the real story is the impact that the global economic crisis has had on New Zealand.
The economy has also been hit hard by the global trade downturn, which is currently hitting the tourism sector particularly hard and the retail sector particularly badly.
In the coming months, it is likely that New York and other major cities will continue to suffer from the effects of the downturn.
But in Wellington and Auckland, the local economy has taken the hit most severely.
Retailers have been closing stores, and people are choosing to take their time out of the market.
And this is creating a very bad situation for retailers and businesses alike.
As a result of this, it may not be long before New Zealand is experiencing a second year of economic decline.
The next downturn will likely be worse than the first.
