Monthly Survey of Trade
Sales are stable in February and remain below the record figure of 2014
April 09, 2019 09h00 AM | Last Updated: April 10, 2019 12h51 PM
Retail sales remained stable in February, having accounted for 0% against the volume traded in January, according to the Monthly Survey of Trade (PMC), released today by the IBGE. Extended retail trade, which includes vehicles and construction material, fell by 0.8% in this same comparison. With that result, the total volume of sales remains 6.6% below the record level reached in October 2014.
The sales of costumes and accessories accounted for the main positive contributions in the month. The activity Fabric, apparel and footwear increased 4.4% from January to February, followed by other personal and household articles, a group that encompasses department stores, with an increase of 1%.
The following subsectors accounted for negative retail trade figures in February: Hupermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco (-0.7%) and Fuels and lubricants (-0.9%), followed by Furniture and household appliances (-0.3%) and Office, computer and communication material and equipment (-3%).
Isabella Nunes, manager of the survey, stated that the rise of prices of food at home, which reached 1.24% according to the IPCA of February, restrained the purchase of those items. “The result of Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco was influenced, to some extent, by the decrease of food sales due to price-related reasons”.
Against February 2018, trade recorded an increase of 3.9%, with positive rates in all the activities, except for Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery, which recorded a decrease of 24.3%. The economist emphasizes that there the so-called "calendar effect". Since Carnival this year was in March, the survey considered two more business days in February in 2019, against 2018, amounting to a total 20 business days.
According to Isabella, the calendar effect was observed in trade as a whole, but the proximity to Carnival festivities caused some sectors to account for more significant contributions: Other personal and household articles (10.7%) and Fabric, apparel and footwear (10.7%). That activity accounted for the best result since September 2017 (12.5%).
The sales of Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery decreased for the tenth time in a row versus February 2018. Against the first two-month period of 2018, the sector faced a loss of 26.8%. As a result, the cumulative index in 12 months, having fallen from 17.7% up to January to -19.6%, up to February, has been negative since March 2014 (-0.2%).
“Most sales of books have not been registered by bookshops, since many of those shops have been closed, and some other are under judicial recovery and have adopted cut cutting measures. These sales have been recorded by other personal and household articles, an activity that encompasses online sales, and part of them, by Hypermarkets", Isabella adds.
