Brazil: Retail sales drop at fastest pace in eight months in December
Retail sales collapsed 6.1% month-on-month in seasonally-adjusted terms in December (November: -0.1% mom), marking the steepest fall since April. December’s notable downturn was broad-based, with sales of textiles, clothing and footwear; furniture and electric household appliances; and, other articles for household and personal use contracting sharply.
On an annual basis, retail sales grew 1.2% in December, which was notably below November’s 3.6% expansion and marking the worst result since June. Accordingly, the trend pointed down, with the annual average growth of retail sales coming in at plus 1.2%, down from November’s 1.3%.