Retail trade had, in November 2008, negative results compared to the previous month: in this comparison, the rates without seasonal influence were -0.7% for volume of sales and  -0.4% for nominal revenue of sales. These figures reinforce the change in the trend observed in this sector since October, when the results, in comparison with September, were -0.9% for volume of sales and -0.4% for nominal revenue of sales (Table 1). Compared to November 2007, the changes of 5.1% in volume of sales and 12.0% in revenue, although positive, reflected the deceleration of the rhythm of increase in relation to equivalent months in the previous year. In the indexes accumulated in the year and in the last 12 months there was little change, and these rates were, respectively, 15.9% and 15.6% for nominal revenue of sales and 9.8% for volume of sales , in both indicators.

For extended retail trade, the decreases in the comparison November/December 2008, with seasonal adjustment, were, for the second consecutive month, higher than those in extended retail trade, being -3.4% for volume of sales and  -3.1% for nominal revenue, due to the significant decrease of vehicle sales. Extended retail trade also had negative results for volume of sales compared to November 2007 (-4.1%), with increase of 11.0% accumulated in 2008 and of 10.9% in the last 12 months. For these same indicators, the nominal revenue of sales changed by 1.2%, 16.2% and 16.0%, respectively.

In the comparison between November and October 2008, with seasonal adjustment, there were negative results in five of the eight activities which form retail trade, mainly in Office, computer and communication material and equipment (-9.8%), followed by Textiles, apparel and footwear (-5.5%); Furniture and household appliances (-3.3%); Other articles of personal and domestic use (-2.3%); and Fuels and lubricants (-0.9%).

Positive results occurred in Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic and perfumery articles and cosmetics (1.6%); Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery articles (1.3%); and Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco (0.7%).

The other two activities which form retail trade also had negative results compared to those in October: -7.0% for Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces and -1.4% for Construction material.

With the negative rates of October and November, in the seasonally adjusted month/previous month comparison, retail trade and extended retail trade closed this two-month period with accumulated decrease in the volume of sales (-1.6% and -11,4%, respectively. In this period, the activity facing the major reduction was Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces (-24.3%), followed by Textiles, apparel and footwear (-10.8%); Office, computer and communication material and equipment (-9.9%); Furniture and household appliances (-5.6%); Construction material (-3.6%); Other articles of personal and domestic use (-3.2%); and Fuels and lubricants (-1.7%).

The activities with positive rates were: Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic and perfumery articles and cosmetics (1.5%); Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery articles (1.0%); and Hypermarkets, supermarkets, beverage sand tobacco (0.4%).

Compared to November 2007, three of the ten activities surveyed faced decrease of volume of sales and, among the seven ones with positive results, five faced reduction of the increase rhythm.  

The activity Hypermarkets, supermarkets, beverage sand tobacco, with increase of 6.0% compared to November 2007, overcame, in this comparison, the retail trade rate (5.1%), a situation which had not occurred since January 2007. Because of this and of its great importance in the structure of trade, this activity accounted for 56% of the overall rate. However, in the accumulated results, its rates were very different from those of retail trade, 5.7% in January and 5.8% in the last 12 months, in part because of the inflation of food products.

In spite of the increase of volume of sales, from 15.7% in October to 4.5% in November, the activity Furniture and household appliances remained as the major responsible for the positive result of retail trade. The deceleration, due to the occurrence of credit restraints after September, was not strong enough to change the status of this activity as the third best performance among subsectors in 2008, with accumulated rates in the year and in the last 12 months, of 16.6% and 16.0%, respectively.

The subsector of Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic and perfumery articles, with 14.1% of change of volume of sales in the comparison November 08/November 07 (the second best performance in the month), moved, between October and November, from the fifth to the third biggest contribution to the overall retail rate. With increase of about 13.2% accumulated from January to November, this activity has kept its increase rhythm, and that can be seen as a consequence of the increase of salary volume and by the significance of its products in the market.

The fourth major contribution to the increase of volume of retail sales, in relation to November 08/November 07, came from Fuels and lubricants, although its monthly increase rate has been reduced by almost 50%, changing from 10.9% in October to 5.5% in November. With changes of 9.6% and 9.1% in the figures accumulated from January to November and in the last 12 months, respectively, the activity kept results very close to those of retail trade. The stability of fuel prices in 2008 was essential to obtain these results.

By reducing the rate of increase of volume of sales from 12.1% in October to 6.5% in November, compared to equivalent periods in 2007, the subsector Other articles of personal and domestic use lost importance in the overall rate, changing from the third to the fifth position in terms of contribution. Even so, the activity remained in the second position in terms of the magnitude of accumulated rate in the year, with 17.8% of increase from January to November and 18.2% in the last 12 months.

Office, computer and communication material and equipment accounted for the sixth major contribution to the retail rate, with 20.8% of increase in relation to November 2007. In terms of accumulated results, it is the activity with the highest level of increase: 33.2% in the year and 33.8% accumulated in the last 12 months. Credit, income, fall of prices and digital integration programs are the main factors accounting for this performance.

The 10.4% of increase in Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery articles has had little effect on the formation of the overall retail trade rate (1.5%). In terms of the indexes accumulated in the year and in the last 12 months, the activity had, respectively rates of 10.7% and 10.3%.

The only negative change in the volume of sales in relation to November 2007 was that of Textiles, apparel and footwear (-8.7%). The rise of prices of imported products of this subsector, caused by the devaluation of Real, the Brazilian currency, is one of the factors accounting for this negative performance. In terms of accumulated rates, this activity had figures of 7.1% from January to November 2008 and 7.5% in the last 12 months. After October, these figures kept below the overall retail trade rate.

The group of activities with negative rates in the November 08/November 07 comparison also includes Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces (-20.3%) and Construction material (-6.2%), with decrease of volume of sales. These results have led to the first decrease of volume of sales of extended retail trade (-4.1%), since the beginning of the series, in January 2005. Even after the decreases, extended retail trade had rates accumulated in the year (11.0%) and in the last 12 months (10.9%), above those of retail trade. 

The same way, the activity Vehicles and motorcycles, parts and pieces, with 13.5% of increase accumulated in the year and in 12 months, kept on having, until November, one of the highest performance rates in 2008, despite significant decreases in the last 12 months. Construction material, with accumulated changes of 8.8% in the year and 8.9% in the last 12 months, remained below the rate.

In the results of retail trade by area, in the seasonally adjusted comparison between November and October 2008, seven Federative Units had positive changes and twenty had decreasing figures. The main increases occurred in Piauí (3.0%), Ceará (2.9%) and Rondônia (1.7%), whereas the major decreases were those of Rio Grande do Norte (-3.7%), Maranhão (-3.6%), Sergipe (-3.3%) and Tocantins (-3.0%).

In the comparison November 08/November 07 (without adjustment), the situation is the opposite, with negative results in only 3 of the 27 Federative Units: Amazonas (-5.8%); Pará (-4.2%); and Tocantins (-0.2%). The highest increase rates, in this comparison, were those of Rondônia (15.7%); Piauí (12.2%); Roraima (9.3%); Acre (8.9%); and São Paulo (7.9%). As for the participation in the composition of the retail trade rate, the highlights, in order of importance, were: São Paulo (7.9%), Rio de Janeiro (3.2%), Bahia (7.7%), Paraná (4.6%) and Rio Grande do Sul (3.5%).

Considering volume of sales of extended retail trade, also in comparison with November 2007, there was predominance of negative results in 20 of the 27 Federative Units. The highlights, with the main decreases were: Federal District (-12.0%), Santa Catarina (-10.2%), Goiás (-9.7%), Maranhão (-7.3%) and Pará (-6.9%). In terms of contribution to the negative result of the sector, the highlights were: São Paulo (-3.6%), Santa Catarina (-10.2%), Minas Gerais (-5.1%), Federal District (-12.0%) and Rio de Janeiro (-3.3%).