China: Retail sales remain dire in March
In March, nominal retail sales tumbled 15.8% on an annual basis. The print represented only a small improvement compared to the 20.5% drop in January-February and below the 10.0% decline that market analysts had expected. Retail sales remained weak across all the sub-categories.
On a seasonally-adjusted basis, retail sales rose 0.2% in March, contrasting the 20.5% drop in February. Meanwhile, annual average growth in retail sales fell from 3.3% in February to 1.2% in March.