South Africa Retail Sales Fall 1.6%

(RTTNews) - South Africa's retail sales declined for the fourth straight month in March, and at a faster pace than in the previous month, data from Statistics South Africa showed on Wednesday.

Retail sales fell an unadjusted 1.6 percent year-on-year in March, following a 0.7 percent decrease in February. The expected decrease was 0.7 percent.

Sales of food, beverages, and tobacco in specialized stores fell the most by 6.6 percent annually in March, and those of hardware, paint, and glass dropped 3.9 percent.

On the other hand, sales of textiles, clothing, footwear, and leather goods showed a positive growth of 6.3 percent.

On a monthly basis, retail sales slid a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent in March after a 0.3 percent decrease in February.

In the three months to March, retail sales advanced 0.8 percent from the preceding three months.