Both rates are seasonally adjusted and accumulate growth of 4.6% and 6.2% in the year.  In the series without adjustment, the volume of sales and the revenue increased, respectively, 10.5% and 11.4% in relation to May 2006.

Retail trade of the Country had, in May 2007, change of 0.5% for the volume of sales and 1.0% for the nominal revenue, in the relation month/previous month with seasonal adjustment, and accumulated growth of 4.6% and 6.2%, respectively, in the year.  In the series without adjustment, the comparisons with the same period of the previous year had the following rates for the volume of sales: 10.5% in the month of May; 9.5% in the index accumulated from January to May and 7.5% in the index accumulated in the last 12 months. The nominal revenue increased by 11.4%, 9.8% and 8.0%, relative to the month of May, the first five months of the year and the last 12 months, respectively.

With the changes with seasonal adjustment of 0.5% and of 1.0% in May, respectively for the volume and nominal revenue of sales, the Retail Trade continued growing, for the fifth consecutive month, in relation to the previous month. Still in the analysis of the adjusted series, calculated for four among eight activities that form the sector, the results for the volume of sales were the following: 0.1% for Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco; -1.2% for Fuels and lubricants; 7.6% for Textiles, apparel and footwear; and 3.1% for Furniture and household equipment. In the same comparison, the segment of Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and accessories, which is included in the Extended retail trade, had a negative change of –0.1% (Table 1).

In the comparison with the months of May 2007 and May 2006 (series without adjustments), the volume of sales increased in all the activities of retail, whose rates, by order of importance in the overall result were: 8.2% for Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco; 28.0% for Other articles of personal and domestic use; 10.4% for Furniture and household equipment; 16.0% for Textiles, apparel and footwear; 5.2% for Fuels and lubricants; 7.5% for Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic and perfumery articles; 17.7% for Office material, computer and communication equipment; and 3.2% for Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery articles  (Table 1).

Bringing once more the major influence on the overall result, the segment of Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco increased by 8.2% in volume of sales, in relation to the same month of the previous year, answering for 38% of the retail rate.  The activity accumulated increase of 6.7% in the first five months of the year and 7.3% in the last 12 months, respectively.  This performance continues showing the increase of the purchasing power of the population.

The activity of Other articles of personal and domestic use, second major influence in the formation of the retail rate, increased by 28.0% in volume of sales, in relation to May 2006, answering for 19% of the overall rate. Including segments such as department stores, glasses shops, jewelry shops, sporting goods stores, toy stores, etc, this activity has its performance influenced also by the improvement in the general scenario of the economy.  In this month, it had also the influence of sales of  Mother’s Day, accumulating 23.5% in the year and 20.3% in the last 12 months.

The segment of Furniture and household equipment brought, in May, the third major influence on the result of the Retail trade.  It registered change of 10.4% in the volume of sales in relation to May of the previous year, a performance which led the activity to answer for 16% of the overall retail rate this month (Table 3). In accumulated terms, the results were 16.5% in the year and 12.7% in the last 12 months. This performance occurred due to favorable credit conditions, real income, employment and prices.

The fourth major positive contribution for the overall result came from the segment Textiles, apparel and footwear, which changed the volume of sales in 16.0% in relation to the same month of the previous year. This significant rate occurred due to favorable conditions of the economy that allowed, probably, a stronger trend of sales related to Mother’s Day, this year.  In accumulated terms, rates of 8.6% were registered for the first five months of 2007 and 3.5% for the last 12 months.

Bringing the fifth major positive result on retail, the activity Fuels and lubricants increased by 5.2% in the comparison May 07/ May 06, being this the fifth positive rate after 2 consecutive years of decrease. This performance may be related to the price stabilization of fuels of the last months, together with improvement of economic conditions in the Country.  In relation to the accumulated results, the changes were of 5.3% in the period January-May and –2.3% in the last 12 months.

The activity Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic and perfumery articles, sixth major participation in the overall retail rate, increased by 7.5% in relation to May 2006, obtaining an accumulated rate of 6.3% in the year and 4.4% in the last 12 months.  The expansion of the overall wages and the diversification of the offered products caused the positive performance of the segment.

Office material, computer and communication equipment, with the seventh major influence, had increase in the volume of sales, in April, of 17.7% compared to same month of the previous year; accumulating in the year and in the last 12 months rates of 21.7% and 22.4%, respectively. Among the factors that determined this performance stood out the reduction in the prices of the segment and the increasing importance of computer and communication in the consumption basket of the families.

The activity Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery articles brought, once more, the lowest influence on the result of retail trade as it recorded increase in the volume of sales of 3.2% compared to May 2006.  The growing rates observed in the accumulated of the five first months of the year and in the last 12 months were 5.6% and 3.0%, respectively.

For the Extended Retail Trade, formed by retail and the activities Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and accessories and Construction material, the changes observed in relation to the same month of the previous year were of 13.0% for the volume of sales and 12.9% in the nominal revenue of sales. In the indicators accumulated in the year and in the last 12 months, the sector had change rates of 12.7% and 9.6% for the volume of sales and 12.4% and 9.6% for the nominal revenue, respectively.

In volume of sales, Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and accessories increased by 20.0% in relation to the same month of the previous year. In the indicator accumulated in the year the rate was 21.0%, being in the last twelve months 14.5%. The most pronounced reduction of interest rates and the enlargement of the financing terms are being the main factors for the expansion of sales of the group in this year. Regarding the activity Construction material, the changes were of: 4.7% in the month, in relation to May 2006; 6.7% in the index accumulated in the first five months of the year and 8.1% in the index accumulated in the last 12 months.  

These values are a result of the favorable economic conditions, as well as a consequence of government decrees supporting the sector of construction.

Analysis by Regions

Only in Piauí (-1,3%) among the twenty-seven Federation Units, there was decrease in relation to May 2006. Stood out with the major positive changes: Alagoas (25.0%); Mato Grosso (16.7%); Mato Grosso do Sul (15.3%); Sergipe (15.0%); Rondônia (14.8%); and São Paulo (14.4%) (Graph 3). Regarding the participation in the composition of the rate of Retail trade, the highlights by order were São Paulo (14.4%); Rio de Janeiro (5.4%); Minas Gerais (6.4%); Rio Grande do Sul (6.6%); and Bahia (10.8%).

Also by Federation Unit, the results with seasonal adjustment for the volume of sales were, in relation to the previous month, twenty states with hikes and seven with decrease.  The main increases came from Sergipe (5.6%); Rio Grande do Norte (5.1%); Roraima (4.8%); Paraíba (4.6%); and Goiás (4.4%), and the major decreases were observed in Paraná (-3.4%); Tocantins (-1.6%); Minas Gerais (-1.4%); Mato Grosso do Sul (-0.7%).  

In relation to extended retail, the major rates of performance in the volume of sales occurred in Rondônia (50.1%); Acre (31.6%); Pará (28.1%); Mato Grosso do Sul (25.0%); and Roraima (22.1%). In terms of influence on the overall result of the sector, the highlights were São Paulo (13.8%); Minas Gerais (12.4%); Rio Grande do Sul (9.6%); Paraná (11.2%); and Rio de Janeiro (6.1%).