South Africa Retail Sales Fall Further

(RTTNews) - South Africa's retail sales declined for the fifth straight month in April, and at a slightly 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 April, following a 1.5 percent decrease in March. The expected decrease was 1.4 percent.

Sales of food, beverages, and tobacco in specialized stores fell the most by 6.2 percent annually in April, and sales at all other retailers dropped 4.2 percent.

On the other hand, sales of textiles, clothing, footwear, and leather goods showed a positive growth of 3.1 percent.

On a monthly basis, retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent in April, reversing a 0.6 percent decrease in March.

In the three months to April, retail sales remained flat from the preceding three months.