Nominal revenue increased by 0.18%. Both comparisons are seasonally adjusted in relation to October. In the series without adjustment and in relation to November 2004, sales increased by 4.87% and nominal revenue by 8.78%.

In November 2005, the retail trade of the Country increased by 0.26% in volume of sales and 0.18% in nominal revenue, in the comparison month/previous month in the seasonally adjusted series. In the other comparisons, in the series without adjustment, the rates for volume of sales were of 4.87% compared to November 04, 4.82% accumulated in the year and 5.53% accumulated in the last 12 months. The nominal revenue increased by 8.78% in relation to the same month of 2004, 10.51% accumulated in the year and 11.38% accumulated in the last 12 months (Tables 1 and 2).

The change of 0.26% in the volume of sales of November 2005 is a mild increase in relation to the previous month, after a quarter oscillating between fall and stability. Still in this indicator, calculated for four among eight retail activities, the volume of sales of Furniture and household appliances (3.56%) and Fuels and lubricants (0.27%) increased. The other activities fell: Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco (-0.52%) and Textiles, apparel and footwear (-0.02%). The segment of Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces that belongs to extended retail trade grew by 3.66%.

In relation to November 2004, the volume of sales increased in seven among eight retail activities: Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco (2.40%); Furniture and household appliances (14.47%); Textiles, apparel and footwear (8.02%); Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic and perfumery articles (10.95%); Office, computer and communication equipment (59.40%); Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery articles (3.44%); and Other articles of personal and domestic use (16.32%). The fall (- 8.53%) occurred in Fuels and lubricants.

The major positive impact over the volume of sales of November came, once more, from the activity Furniture and household appliances (14.47%). The sector broke a sequence of five months of positive decreasing rates in the comparison month/ same month of the previous year (graph 5). The accumulated rate in the year of this sector reached 17.13% and in the last 12 months, 17.92%. The credit, as had already happened in 2004, continued as the main factor of the increase of sales of the activity in 2005.

The activity of Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco brought the second major influence upon the formation of the overall retail rate, with 2.40% of increase upon the volume of sales compared to the same month of 2004. Although surpassing the result of the previous month (1.42%), the segment continued with a performance below the monthly average of the third quarter of 2005 (3.96%). This deceleration and the increase of the rate of this month are in agreement with the annualized performance of the work average real income according to the Monthly Employment Survey (PME) of IBGE, whose rates diminished, between August and October, from 3.7% to 1.8%, returning to increase in November (2.1%). The accumulated in the year and in the last 12 months, in November, were respectively 3.25% and 4.15%.

The segment Other articles of domestic and personal use brought, in November, the third major impact upon Retail Trade, recording change of 16.32% in the volume of sales in comparison with November 2004.

Including segments such as department stores, glasses shops, sporting goods stores, toy stores, and others, which are affected by consumer credit transactions, the group has obtained a performance above the overall average, accumulating in the year a rate of 14.55% in relation to the eleven first months of 2004.

Still in the relation November 05/ November 04, the fourth major result of Trade came from Textiles, apparel and footwear: 8.02% in the volume of sales. Due to its performance, lower than the average of 2004 (4.71% against 9.25% of retail), the magnitude of the monthly rates that the activity has registered in the second semester of this year occured partly as a consequence of the base-effect. The rates accumulated in the year and in the last 12 months have results near the overall retail average: 5.36% and 5.27%, respectively.

With 10.95% in the volume of sales compared to November /04, Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedical and perfumery articles brought the fifth major contribution upon the overall rate. The rate accumulated in the year was 5.83%.

Also with monthly positive results, are Office, computer and communication equipment and Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery articles: 59.40% and 3.44% in relation to November /04, respectively. The rate accumulated in the year remained in 48.50% for Equipment and 2.08% for Books. The growth of the first segment was due basically to the evaluation of the real compared to the dollar, which has turned computer products relatively cheaper.

The only fall in the volume of sales, in relation to November 2004 came again from Fuels and lubricants: -8.53%, its eleventh consecutive fall. The falling performance of the deflated revenue came again from the hike of fuel prices, considerably above the average, which has been stimulating the substitution of the more expensive product (gasoline) for the cheaper ones (alcohol and natural gas). In the first eleven months of 2005, the segment registers fall of –7.36% compared to the same period of 2004, accumulating in 12 months rates of – 6.48% of change.

There were hikes in the volume of sales of 25 among 27 states, in relation to November 2004, and the major ones came from Tocantins (46.42%); Sergipe (38.93%); Maranhão (34.78%); Rio Grande do Norte (30.23%); Acre (29.96%); and Piauí (27.64%). The falls occurred in Paraná (-2.70%) and Rio Grande do Sul (-4.23%). The major increases came from São Paulo (2.59%); Rio de Janeiro (5.35%); Minas Gerais (4.44%); Federal District (13.69%); and Ceará (19.66%).

The results with seasonal adjustment for the volume of sales, in the comparison month /previous month, showed eighteen states with increase and nine with decrease. The major rates came from Acre (7.44%); Tocantins (6.05%); Maranhão (1.97%); Rio Grande do Sul (1.38%); and Rio Grande do Norte (1.27%) and the major decreases from Sergipe (-4.15%); Pará (-1.64%); Alagoas (-1.60%); and Roraima (-1.08%).

For the Extended retail trade (retail plus the activities of Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces and Construction material), the changes in the relation November 05/ November 04 were of 3.55% for the volume of sales and 7.63% for the nominal revenue. In the rate accumulated from January-November 2005, compared to the same period of the previous year, the sector increased by 3.09% in volume of sales and 10.01% in nominal revenue.

In terms of volume of sales, the activity of Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces grew 2.74% compared to November /04, after two months with negative results. In the rate accumulated in the year and in the last twelve months the changes were of 1.64% and of 3.06%, respectively. On the other hand, the segment of Construction material continues falling: - 4.34% in the comparison November 05/ November 04 and –6.09% accumulated in the first eleven months of 2005 compared to the same period of the previous year.

Still in relation to the extended retail, the major rates in the volume of sales occurred in Sergipe (36.49%); Acre (33.46%); Tocantins (33.14%); Rio Grande do Norte (29.67%); and Maranhão (29.36%). The highlights in the overall result came from São Paulo (2.73%); Federal District (16.54%); Pernambuco (15.16%); Ceará (18.84%); Pará (24.37%); and Espírito Santo (15.21%).