Trade
Deceleration of sales marks Q1 2018
May 11, 2018 09h00 AM | Last Updated: June 05, 2018 10h28 AM
Retail trade sales increased 3.8% in Q1 2018, for the fourth time in row, but at a more reduced pace than in the last three quarters. These data come from the Monthly Survey of Trade, released today by the IBGE, which point to increase of sales by 0.3%, in the March/February comparison, and against March 2017.
Sales in Q1 2018 recorded decrease in most activities, the main ones being Furniture and household appliances (from 11.3% to 1.7%) and Fabric, apparel and footwear (from 6.9% to -1.6%). According to the manager of the survey, Isabella Nunes Pereira, these results are related to the big number of unemployed persons, which, according to the March edition of Continuous Pnad, hit 13.7 million persons, and to a reduction of jobs with a formal employment contract. “Formal jobs give workers funding opportunities, that is, access to credit for the purchase of furniture and household appliances".
Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco (from 4.4% to 5.7%) and Other personal and domestic articles (from 3.0% to 10.9%) also recorded increase. Isabella says the calendar effect contributed to the better performance of these segments. “In 2018, the Easter's holiday, which had a positive impact on sales in those sectors, took place in March, whereas in 2017, it had been celebrated in April", she adds.
The calendar effect also influenced the March result (6.5%), versus that of March 2017, the tenth positive rate in a row, the major hike since April 2014 (6.7%). Accounting for this positive performance were three of the eight activities that form retail rate: Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco (12.3%); Other personal and domestic articles (13.8%) and Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic articles, toiletries and cosmetics (5.0%).
Negative contributions to the overall rate of March 2018 came from: Fuels and lubricants (-4.8%); Furniture and household appliances (-3.3%); Fabric, wearing apparel and footwear (-0.7%) and Office, computer and communication material and equipment (-7.6%) and Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery articles (-12.6%).
