Retail trade increased by 2.32% in terms of volume  and by 2.35% in terms of nominal revenue of sales, according to the seasonally adjusted August 2006/July 2006 comparison. In the comparisons without seasonal adjustment, the rates for volume of sales were 6.27% in relation to August/05; 5.30% accumulated in 2006 and 5.10% accumulated in the last 12 months. Nominal revenue increased by 7.46% over the figure of the same month in 2005; by 6.96% in the January 2006/August 2006 comparison; and by 7.47% in terms of the rate accumulated in the last 12 months.

The expansion by 2.32% in the volume of sales from July to August changed the sequence of falls observed in the previous two months.

By Activity

The analysis of the adjusted series for four of the eight activities which form retail trade showed a positive result in the August/July comparison: Furniture and household appliances (7.70%); Textiles, apparel and footwear (3.63%); Fuels and lubricants (3.41%); Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco (0.68%). The segment Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and accessories, which is part of the extended retail trade, also had a positive change – 0.54% - over the previous month.

In the comparison August 06/August 05, seven of the eight retail activities had increase in the volume of sales. These rates, in decreasing order of relevance to the overall result, were: 7.48% for Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco; 10.65% for Furniture and household appliances; 19.04% for Other articles of personal and domestic use; 26.57% for  Office, computer and communication equipment; 2.36% for Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic and perfumery articles; 1.15% for Textiles, apparel and footwear; 4.28% for Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery articles; and -6.58% for Fuel and lubricants.

The activity Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco (7.48%) accounted for almost half of the overall retail rate. The performance reflects basically the improvement of the average income of workers, as well as the increase of employment with a formal contract, from 3.5% to 5.9%, respectively. According to the Monthly Employment Survey (PME). With this result, the activity reaches, in the first few months of the year, a rate of 7.23% in relation to the same period in the previous year, having accumulated, in the last 12 months, an increase rate of 5.48%.

The segment Furniture and household appliances represented, in August, the second major impact on the result of retail trade (10.65%). Basically benefited by the maintenance of favorable conditions to consumer credit, and by the fall of prices generated by the competition with foreign products, this activity had increase rates of 8.28% and 9.46% accumulated in the year and in the last 12 months, respectively.

The activity Other articles of personal and domestic use (19.04%) accounted for the third major impact on the formation of retail trade. Encompassing segments such as department stores, glasses shops, jewelry shops, sporting goods stores, toy stores, etc, the activity has undergone the influence of favorable credit conditions and the evolution of salaries. As a consequence, it showed, from January to August, expansion of 14.97% over the same period in 2005, with a rate of 15.51% accumulated in the last 12 months.

Office, computer and communication equipment and material (26.57%) represented the fourth biggest impact on the result of trade. The growth of this activity resulted from the fall of prices (especially of computer products) and from the improvement of the conditions of income. In terms of accumulated rates, the figures obtained in the first eight months of the year and in the last 12 months reached, respectively, 36.02% and 45.95%.

The segment Textiles, apparel and footwear, after two months of negative rates, had increase of the volume of sales (1.15%). This can be explained by the stimuli to the purchase of foreign products, whose prices have fallen due to the high exchange rate. In terms of accumulated indicators, the rates were 1.57% for the first eight months of 2006 and 4.465 for the last 12 months.

Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery articles complete the group of positive contributions to the overall rate of retail trade, with changes in the volume of sales over August 05 (4.28%). The increase of 1.44%, accumulated in the year, and of 1.49%, accumulated in the last 12 months, rank the activity as the one obtaining the lowest positive results in 2006.

The activity Fuels and lubricants reached the twentieth consecutive month of falling rates for volume of sales (-6.58%). The deceleration of the change rate may be attributed to the fall of prices of fuels in the last few months. In terms of accumulated results, the rates were -9.59% for the period January-August and -9.05% for the last 12 months.

By Federative Unit

In the analysis by region, 26 of the 27 Federative Units (UFs) had positive results in terms of volume of sales in the comparison August 06/August 05, with the major changes coming from Roraima (37.99%); Acre (26.80%); Amapá (20.62%); Tocantins (18.02%) and Alagoas (16.57%). The only fall occurred in Mato Grosso (-12.36%). Concerning the participation in the rate of retail trade, the highlights were, in order: São Paulo (4.86%); Minas Gerais (13.85%); Rio de Janeiro (5.89%); Paraná (6.84%) and Santa Catarina (8.39%).

Still considering the Federative Units, the seasonal adjusted results for the volume of sales showed, in the month/previous month comparison, 26 states with positive rates and 1 with a falling one. The main increases occurred in Tocantins (8,46%); Maranhão (7,76%); Alagoas (6,21%); Amazonas (5,12%) e Goiás (4,78%). The only negative result occurred in Bahia (-0.42%).

Extended Retail Trade

For extended retail trade formed by retail trade and the activities of Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and accessories,  the changes observed in the comparison August 06/August 05 were 7.88% for the volume of sales and 8.46% for nominal revenue of sales. In terms of the rates accumulated in the year and in the last 12 months, the sector had change rates of 4.93% and 4.13% for volume of sales and of 6.77% and 6.74% for nominal revenue, respectively.

As for volume of sales, the activity Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and accessories grew by 10.19% in relation to the same month in the previous year. The changes accumulated in the first eight months of 2006 and in the last 12 months, were, respectively, 4.67% and 3.11%. The segment Contruction Material finished the fourth consecutive month of growh with change of 12.40% over August 2005, reflecting the measures aimed at incentiving civil construction. In terms of accumulated rates, the figures were 2.54% for the period January-August and -0.66% in the last 12 months.

By Federative Unit, in relation to extended retail trade, the best performances in terms of volume of sales were those in Acre (47.40%), Amapá (31.58%); Rondônia (31.17%); Maranhão (26.28%) and Tocantins (24.50%). In terms of the impact on the overall result of the sector, the highlights were São Paulo (3.79%); Minas Gerais (13.23%); Rio de Janeiro (6.91%); Paraná (10.86%) and Santa Catarina (13.53%).