Monthly Survey of Trade
Trade is on the rise in July, up 1% in retail sales
September 11, 2019 09h00 AM | Last Updated: September 12, 2019 05h41 PM
Retail trade sales increased 1% in July, compared to the previous month, and were the third consecutive positive rate of the month, according to the Monthly Survey of Trade, released today by the IBGE. It is the best result in July since 2013, when the growth was of 2.7%. May and June indexes were revised to 0.1% and 0.6%, respectively.
The rise in sales showed a higher pace, after a first semester marked by stability. The growth of 1% is the highest since November 2018 (3.2%), Black Friday's month. With this result, the retail trade sector remains at the same level as that of June 2015 and keeps 5.3% below the record level of October 2014.
Seven out of the eight surveyed activities presented positive results in July, with a highlight to supermarkets (1.3%), the most significant sector, other articles of personal and household use (2.2%), which include online sales, and furniture and household appliances (1.6%).
The growth in the number of employed persons and access to credit were factors that influenced sale rises. “Even though the growth is in informal jobs, people are at least working now. This has an impact on supermarket sales, which is a basic activity”, explains the survey manager, Isabella Nunes.
The growth in furniture and household appliance sales is directly related to credit access, stimulated by interest reduction. “These are sales that will be present in family budgets for a while. Credit granting has risen for individuals, hence there was an impulse for sales of durable goods”, says Isabella.
In relation to June, the retail trade recorded positive results in 19 states, with a highlight to Mato Grosso (5.4%), Rio de Janeiro (2.75) and Bahia (2.4%). The negative trends were in Amazonas (-1.9%), Roraima (-1.6%), Ceará (-1.5%), while, Goiás and Pará remained stable.
The survey also points out an upward trend in retail trade compared to July 2018, an increase of 4.3%, the fourth consecutive growth in this comparison. The cumulative index in the last 12 months changed from 1.2% in June to 1.6% in July.
“The inter-annual rate was influenced by an extra business day in July 2019. The result would have remained positive without this extra day, but in terms of magnitude, the rate would be smaller”, claims Isabella.
The volume of sales for the extended retail trade, which include motor vehicles and construction materials, edged up 0.7% compared to June. Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and accessories rebounded 0.9% after increasing 3.5% in previous month, meanwhile construction materials advanced (1.1%).
