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Sales decelerate in October, yet trade has sixth positive month in a row
December 11, 2019 09h00 AM | Last Updated: December 11, 2019 11h39 AM
According to the Monthly Survey of Trade, released today (11) by the IBGE, sales of the retail trade decelerated to 0.1% in October over September. Despite the reduction of pace, this was the sixth consecutive positive figure of the sector this year, leading to a cumulative gain of 2.7% in the period and of 4.2% against October 2018. The September´s index was revised from 0.7% to 0.8%.
Six out of the eight activities surveyed rose: office, computer and communication material and equipment (5.3%), fuels and lubricants (1.7%), pharmaceuticals, medical and orthopedic articles, toiletries and cosmetics (1.2%), furniture and household appliances (0.9%), other articles of personal and domestic use (0.3%) and fabric, apparel and footwear (0.2%).
After advancing 4.0% between May and September, the sector of hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco remained close to the stability (-0.1%), whereas the sales of the segment of books, newspapers, magazines and stationery fell 1.1% over last September.
In the assessment of Isabella Nunes, manager of the survey, the retail was closing 2019 better than it had entered it. "This was due to the short-term picture, more favorable to consumption, with an improvement in the labor market, despite the predominance of the informality, and in the wage bill. The release of the FGTS and controlled inflation also leveraged the sales. In addition, more credit was provided to physical persons, which stimulated the acquisition of durable goods".
Sector grows 4.2% compared with October last year
The retail trade grew 4.2% in relation to October 2018, the seventh positive rate in a row. As a result, the retail accrued an advance of 1.6% between January and October, compared with the same period a year ago. Having changed from 1.6% in September to 1.8% in October, the cumulative indicator over the last 12 months pointed out to a gain in the pace of sales, assessed Nunes.
She highlighted that this October registered the best result in the inter-annual comparison over the last six years, despite the expected sales for November. "Due to the Black Friday, consumers usually postpone an acquisition that could be made in October for November", said the manager of the survey.
Considering the extended retail trade, which includes vehicles and construction material, volume of sales grew 0.8% in October over September. This result reflected the increase in the sales of vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces (2.4%) and of construction material (2.1%), both of them after significant advances recorded in the previous month, 1.2% and 1.8%, respectively.
The Monthly Survey of Trade also reported that sales increased in 18 out of the 27 Federation Units between September and October, highlighted by Amapá (2.4%), Paraíba (1.9%) and Piauí (1.7%). On the other hand, the biggest drops were registered in Minas Gerais (-5.2%), Rondônia (-1.7%) and Mato Grosso do Sul (1.1%).
