Retail in Asia

In Markets

Retail sales in Japan still looking weak

Retail sales figures for Japan last month look pretty patchy.

Sales jumped 1.4 per cent month-on-month in March, from a 2.3 per cent decline in February and almost three times as much as the 0.5 per cent growth economists had expected.

But year-on-year, retail trade was down 1.1 per cent, which was a little better than expectations of minus 1.4 per cent. This is the weakest reading since December.

More disappointing was that February’s gain was revised lower by a tenth of a percentage point to 0.4 per cent.

Total sales growth at department stores and supermarket was minus 1.2 per cent year-on-year, down from a 2.2 per cent rise in February, and the first – and largest – negative reading since November.