Retail trade in the country recorded change of 1.4% in volume of sales and 0.4% in nominal revenue of sales, seasonally adjusted rates compared to those in the previous month.

Retail trade in the country recorded change of 1.4% in volume of sales and 0.4% in nominal revenue of sales, seasonally adjusted rates compared to those in the previous month. For volume of sales, this result means increase in sales in this type of comparison, after the significant decrease recorded in the previous month and evidenced by the evolution of fixed-base indicators. Changes versus May 2009 were 10.2% for volume of sales and 14.2% for nominal revenue. In terms of figures accumulated in the first five months of the year and in the last 12 months, rates were, respectively, 11.5% and 8.8% for volume of sales and 14.8% and 12.0% for nominal revenue.

Extended retail trade, which encompasses retail trade and the activities of Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces, and Construction material, was stable in relation to the previous month, with changes of 0.1% for volume of sales and 0.0% for nominal revenue 9both seasonally adjusted). Compared to the same month in the previous year (without seasonal adjustment), changes were 9.5% for volume of sales and 13.4% for nominal revenue. Considering the index accumulated in the year and in the last 12 months, the subsector had change rates of 13.6% and 11.2% for volume of sales and 16.1% and 12.1% for nominal revenue of sales, respectively.

As for volume of sales, the activity Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces recorded increase of 6.4% in relation to May 2009, having accumulated changes of 17.1% and 17.3% in the first five months of the year and in the last 12 months, respectively. The end of IPI reduction in March contributed to the deceleration of increase of this subsector (change in March 2010 had been 32.7%).

Construction material recorded changes of 19.9% in relation to May 2009, of 17.0% accumulated in the year and of 3.5% accumulated in the last 12 months. It is the seventh consecutive increase of this activity, showing recovery of the sector, once in the first ten months of 2009 there were ten negative results. The bigger trust in economic agents and economic recovery, together with governmental inventive (reduction of the IPI tax for construction) are the reasons accounting for this behavior.

All the Federation Units recorded increases versus May 2009

All the twenty-seven Federation Units presented positive results in comparison with figures in May 2009 and the main increases came from Rondônia (42.0%), Tocantins (40.1%), Mato Grosso (20.2%), Amapá (20.0%), Acre (19.4%) and Maranhão (17.6%). In terms of contribution to the overall retail trade rate that is, considering the contributions from states, the highlights, in order of importance were: São Paulo (10.3%), Rio de Janeiro (9.8%), Minas Gerais (10.9%), Rio Grande do Sul (8.5%) and Paraná (8.6%).

With reference to In relation to extended retail trade, the highest performance rates occurred in Espírito Santo (25.7%), Tocantins (23.9%), Rondônia (23.0%), Amapá (21.8%), Paraíba (18.0%) and Acre (17.8%). As for participation in the formation of the overall result of the sector, the highlights were the states of São Paulo (8.0%), Minas Gerais (13.1%), Paraná (11.1%), Rio de Janeiro (7.0%) and Rio Grande do Sul (9.8%).

Also by Federation Units, seasonally adjusted results for volume of sales indicate positive changes in eighteen states. The highlights are Paraíba (4.3%), Maranhão (3.8%), Mato Grosso do Sul (3.6%), Espírito Santo (2.6%) and Paraná (2.5%). The main decreases occurred in Acre (-5.5%), Alagoas (-4.1%), Tocantins (-2.4%) and Amazonas (-1.2%).

Ten out of six activities surveyed recorded increase of sales

Compared to the immediately month, that is, with seasonal adjustment, six among the ten activities surveyed recorded increase of volume of sales: Construction material (2.4%); Fuels and lubricants (2.0%); Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery articles (1.7%); Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic and perfumery articles and cosmetics (1.6%); Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco (0.8%) and Office, computer and communication material and equipment (0.3%). Decreases occurred in: Furniture and household appliances (-0.3%); Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces (-1.1%); Other articles of personal and domestic use (-1.4%) and Textiles, apparel and footwear (–3.3%).

Compared to May 2009, in the seasonally adjusted series, all the eight activities of retail trade recorded increase of volume of sales, whose rates, in order of importance to the overall results were: Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco (8.2%); Furniture and household appliances (19.5%); Textiles, apparel and footwear (11.8%); Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic and perfumery articles and cosmetics (13.2%); Fuels and lubricants (6.0%); Office, computer and communication material and equipment (28.%); Other articles of personal and domestic use  (3.%) and Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery articles (9.7%).

The subsector Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco, with change of 8.2% in volume of sales over May last year, accounted for the main contribution to the formation of overall retail trade rate (38%). The rate accumulated in the first Five months of the year increased by 10.1%, and in the last 12 month, by 9.8%. Prices of this activity in May this year were above the average, characterizing a rise of inflation in the sector. In the last 12 months prices rose 6.1%, whereas the overall index was 5.2%, according to the group Food Products in IPCA. So, this performance was influenced from the increased population’s purchasing power, which resulted from the rise of salary volume of workers (7.5% over May 2009, according to IBGE’s Monthly Employment Survey).

The activity Furniture and household appliances, with change of 19.5% in volume of sales compared to the previous May, accounted for the second biggest contribution (30%) of the overall retail rate. This result might be explained by sales related to the World Cup, together with a big offer of credit. Considering indexes accumulated in the first few months of the year and in the last 12 months, changes were 21.3% and 11.3%, respectively.

The subsector of Textiles, apparel and footwear, which accounted for the third biggest impact on the formation of the overall rate (9.1%), recorded increase of volume of Sales in May, 11.8% versus the figure in the previous year. There was change of 11.6% in the first five months of the year and accumulated rate of 4.4% in the last 12 months. This result consolidates sector recovery in the eighth consecutive month with positive rates, despite the rise of prices (6.0% in Apparel, compared to the overall index of 5.2%, according to IPCA), throughout the last 12 months.

The activity Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic and perfumery articles and cosmetics, representing the fourth main contribution to the overall retail rate (8.0%),   recorded increase of 13.2% versus May 2009, 12.8% of change in the first five months of the year and accumulated rate of 12.3% in the last 12 months. The increased volume of salaries and the diversity of products traded were the main factors accounting for the positive performance of this subsector.

Fuels and lubricants, having changed by 6.0% in terms of volume of Sales compared to May 2009, accounted, this month, for the fifth biggest contribution to the overall retail rate. Considering performance accumulated in the first five months of the year, the change rate reached 5.5% and, in the last 12 months, 1.9%. This behavior can be seen as a consequence of higher fuel alcohol prices (change of 10.4% in the last 12 months – sub-item Alcohol in the IPCA list).

The subsector Office, computer and communication equipment, which accounted for the sixth main impact on the overall rate, recorded increase in volume of sales (28.7%) over the same month in the previous year and had accumulated rates of 26.5% and 15.1% in the first five months of the year  and in the last 12 months, respectively. This activity had the reached the highest level of increase this year. Among the factors that have led to this performance, the highlights are the fall of prices of products belonging to this activity (according to IPCA, the sub-item Personal Computers had accumulated change of -9.1% in the last 12 months) and the growing importance of these products (computer science and communication) have gained among family consumer habits.

The activity Other articles of personal and domestic use, which accounted for the seventh main impact on the formation of the overall rate, recorded change of 3.0% in volume of sales in relation to May 2009, having accounted for 3.0% of the rate. Encompassing several retail subsectors such as, for example, department stores, glasses shops, jewelry shops, sporting goods stores and toy stores, this activity has been affected by the increase of salary volume. The index accumulated in the year was 5.4% and the index accumulated in the last 12 months, 7.0%.

Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery articles, with increase of 9.7%, accounted for the eighth biggest contribution to the overall retail rate. Volume of sales recorded change of 8.6 % in the year and 9.3% in the last 12 months. With a single negative result in 2009, this subsector presents results that come mainly from the increase of salary volume and the diversity of products, like sales of computer-related material, besides entertainment items such as CDs and DVDs.