Spain Retail Sales Fall For First Time In 4 Months

(RTTNews) - Spain retail sales declined for the first time in four months in November reflecting a sharp contraction in food turnover, the statistical office INE said on Thursday.

Retail sales registered an annual decline of 0.6 percent, reversing the 1.0 percent increase in October.

On an unadjusted basis, retail sales were down 0.8 percent annually in November after the 1.5 percent rise.

Excluding service stations, retail sales decreased 2.5 percent. Food sales fell 3.6 percent, while non-food sales grew 0.5 percent.

Nonetheless, data showed that retail sales posted its biggest monthly growth since April, underpinned by non-food product turnover.

Sales advanced 3.8 percent month-on-month, following October's 0.4 percent gain. This was the fourth consecutive rise in sales and also the fastest in seven months.

Offsetting the 0.2 percent fall in food sales, non-food products registered a monthly growth of 5.9 percent.