Japan retail sales down

Retail sales in Japan dropped 2.6 percent during December compared to figures from the previous year.

The details were released in a Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry report last Friday, and stood in contrast to median market forecasts for a decline of just 1.8 percent.

According to an RTT news article, the sales rate was still above a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent on numbers for November, less than the expected 1.2 per cent gain following a 4.5 percent increase during that month. November sales had dropped 2.1 percent year on year.

Sales for large-scale retailers were strongly affected with a full 3 percent year-on-year drop, compared to a projected fall of 2.5 percent.