Brazil’s retail sales climbed for the second consecutive month in November, defying economists’ expectations for a decrease, figures from the Statistical Office IBGE showed Wednesday.
Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 1.5 percent month-over-month in November, while it was expected to fall by 0.8 percent. In October, sales grew 0.5 percent.
On an annual basis, retail sales declined 7.8 percent in November, faster than the 5.7 percent drop in the previous month. The expected rate of decrease was 9.0 percent.
It was the eighth consecutive negative monthly growth. The latest rate of fall was the steepest since March 2003, when sales had dipped 11.4 percent.
Broad retail sales, which includes sales of automobiles and construction material, went up 0.5 percent monthly in November, reversing a 0.1 percent slight drop in October. Economists had forecast sales to drop further by 0.3 percent.
Yearly, the measure slumped 13.2 percent in November, following a 11.9 percent decline a month earlier. It was slower than the 14.3 percent fall expected by economists.
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