In August, the Retail Trade in Brazil registered rates of 0.9% for the volume of sales and of 1.2% for the nominal revenue in relation to July (in the seasonally adjusted series). This was the sixth positive figure in a row for the volume of sales, whereas the nominal revenue maintained positive rates since June 2012. Nevertheless, both rates decelerated in relation to July (2.1% and 2.1%, respectively). Even so, the moving average rates for the volume of sales and for the nominal revenue increased, changing from 0.9% to 1.1% and from 1.3% to 1.4%, respectively. In the other comparisons in the seasonally unadjusted series, the volume of sales rose 6.2% over August 2012, a cumulative rate of 3.8% in the year and of 5.1% in the last 12 months. The same rates for the nominal revenue of sales were of 13.6%, 11.9% and 12.2%, respectively.

The Extended Retail Trade recorded changes of 0.6% for the volume of sales and of 0.9% for the nominal revenue in relation to the previous month (seasonally adjusted series). In relation to August 2012, the changes were of -0.8% for the volume of sales and of 4.8% for the nominal revenue (seasonally unadjusted series). The cumulative rate in the year for the volume of sales was of 3.1% and, in the last 12 months, of 4.4%. The nominal revenue changed 8.2% and 8.5%, respectively. More detailed information about the survey on https://www.ibge.gov.br/english/estatistica/indicadores/comercio/pmc/ .

Concerning the seasonally adjusted volume of sales, eight out of the ten activities surveyed registered a rise: Office, computer and communication equipment and material (7.6%); Vehicles and motorcycles, parts and pieces (2.6%); Pharmaceuticals, medical and orthopedic articles, toiletries and cosmetics (1.1%); Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery (0.9%); Furniture and household appliances (0.8%); Construction material (0.8%); Hypermarket, supermarket, food products, beverages and tobacco (0.6%); Other articles of personal and domestic use (0.1%). The other activities posted a drop: Fuels and lubricants (-0.7%) and Fabric, wearing apparel and footwear (-1,0%).

In relation to August 2012 (seasonally unadjusted series), only one out of the eight retail activities recorded a drop in the volume of sales: Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery (-0.2%). The other activities registered a rise. Their rates were the following, in order of importance to the overall figure: 5.6% for Hypermarket, supermarket, food products, beverages and tobacco; 7.9% for Furniture and household appliances; 8.5% for Other articles of personal and domestic use; 9.9% for Pharmaceuticals, medical and orthopedic articles, and toiletries; 5.3% for Fuels and lubricants; 3.6% for Fabric, wearing apparel and footwear and 8.2% for Office, computer and communication equipment and material.

By changing 5.6% in the volume of sales over August 2012, the sector of Hypermarket, supermarket, food products, beverages and tobacco was the main contributor (45%) to the overall retail rate. Even as the main contributor, this activity still continued to underperform, due to the behavior of food prices, which rose above the overall index along the last 12 months: 10.6% for Food at home, against 6.1% for the overall inflation, according to IPCA. In terms of cumulative figures, the change rates reached 1.3% in the cumulative indicator of the first eight months of the year, and 3.5% in the last 12 months.

The activity of Furniture and household appliances, with an increase of 7.9% in the volume of sales in relation to August last year, was responsible for the second highest contribution to the retail overall rate (16%). In cumulative terms, the changes reached 5.2% in the first eight months of the year and 6.6% in the last 12 months. This activity has been recording positive rates due to the policy of consumption incentives implemented by the government, through the maintenance of reduced IPI rates for furniture and household appliances. In addition, the Minha Casa Melhor program has also contributed to improve the performance of this activity.

The activity of Other articles of personal and domestic use, which encompasses department, optical, jewelry, sport articles, toy stores, etc.., was the third main contributor to the retail rate (13%), with a change of 8.5% in the volume of sales in relation to August 2012. The growth of the payroll and the Father´s Day were sufficient factors to leverage this segment above the average. In cumulative terms, the rate for the first eight months of the year was 9.7% and, for the last 12 months, 10.5%.

As the fourth highest contributor to the overall retail rate (11%), the activity of Pharmaceuticals, medical and orthopedic articles, and toiletries recorded a growth of 9.9% compared with August last year, and cumulative rates of 9.2% in the year and of 9.0% in the last 12 months. In all comparisons, this sector posted figures above the overall Retail rate.  The main factors that contributed to this figure were the growth of the payroll, the credit supply and the essential nature of such products.

The sector of Fuels and lubricants, with a change of 5.3% in the volume of sales in relation to August 2012, was the fifth highest contributor to the overall retail rate (9%).  In the cumulative index in the year, this activity registered a change rate of 6.3% and, in the last 12 months, of 7.2%. The increase of prices below the average (Fuels item posting 3.8% against 6.1% of the overall index in the last 12 months, according to IPCA) was the main explanation for the figures of this sector.

By changing 3.6% in the volume of sales in relation to August last year, the sector of Fabric, wearing apparel and footwear was the sixth highest contributor to the overall retail rate. In cumulative terms, the figures for the first eight months of the year was 3.5% and, for the last 12 months, 4.0%. Even with the prices of the main sector changing below the overall inflation (wearing apparel with 5.9% against 6.1% of the overall index, according to IPCA), this activity continued to grow below the average.

The sector of Office, computer and communication material and equipment, responsible for the seventh highest contribution to the overall rate, increased the volume of sales in August by 8.2% against the same month of the previous year, and recorded cumulative rates in the year of 4.9% and, in the 12 last months, of 1.0%. The prices of one of the main items of this sector have been increasing below the average inflation, which strongly influenced this figure.

By dropping 0.2% the volume of sales in relation to the same month last year, the activity of Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery exerted the eighth highest influence over the retail figure. The cumulative rate in the year was 3.5% and, in the last 12 months, 4.8%.

The volume of sales of Vehicles and motorcycles, parts and pieces rose 2.6% over July. Comparing with August a year ago, the change was -12.6%. This figure could be explained by the base effect, once the governmental measures - which took the IPI of 1.0 cars to zero and halved it for cars of other cubic capacities - were announced at the end of May 2012 and mostly came into effect on sales in June, July and August. As to the cumulative rates, the changes were: 0.8% in the first eight months and 2.6% in the last 12 months.

As to the sector of Construction material, the changes in the volume of sales were of 0.8% over the previous month and of 4.9% over August 2012. As to the cumulative rates, the changes were: 7.0% in the first eight months and 6.9% in the last 12 months. It is worth mentioning that the tax incentives like the reduction of the IPI, scheduled to be in effect until December, remained leveraging the performance of this sector.

REGIONAL FIGURES

Twenty four out of the 27 Federation Units recorded positive figures over August 2012. The most significant rates were reported in: Paraíba (18.0%); Alagoas (13.0%); Rio Grande do Norte (12.7%); Maranhão (10.3%) and Paraná (9.1%) - Graph 5. Concerning the contribution to the rate of the Retail Trade, the highlights were, by order: São Paulo (7.0%); Rio de Janeiro (7.2%); Paraná (9.1%); Rio Grande do Sul (4.5%) and Pernambuco (8.6%).

As to the extended retail, only 10 states registered positive changes. The highest performance rates in the volume of sales were reported in: Paraíba (7.2%); Rio Grande do Norte (6.5%); Acre (4.2%); Rio de Janeiro (3.6%) and Paraná (2.1%). In terms of impact on the overall figure of the sector, the highlights were Rio de Janeiro (3.6%); Paraná (2.1%); Paraíba (7.2%); Rio Grande do Norte (6.5%) and Rio Grande do Sul (0.8%).

Still concerning the Federation Units, the seasonally adjusted figures (in the month/previous month comparison) for the volume of sales pointed out that 20 out of the 27 states registered positive changes. The highlights were: Alagoas (4.6%); Tocantins (2.9%); Bahia (1.7%), Sergipe (1.7%) and Ceará (1,6%) (Graph 6).