BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazilian retail sales rose 5.2% in July, official figures showed on Thursday, more than economists had expected and taking the volume of sales up to the highest levels in years as the recovery from the worst of the pandemic continued to accelerate.
The 5.2% rise in retail sales excluding cars and building materials last month was more than the median forecast of a 1.2% rise in a Reuters poll of economists.
On an annual basis, sales rose 5.5% in July compared with the same month last year, statistics agency IBGE said, again more than the 2.2% rise economists in the Reuters poll had expected.
Accumulated sales in the first seven months of the year were still down 1.8% from than the same period a year ago, IBGE said.
Seven of the eight sectors covered by IBGE showed a rise in sales. Fabric, clothing and footwear rose 25.2% on the month, office, IT and communication equipment rose 11.4%, and pharmacy, perfume and cosmetics sales rose 7.1%, IBGE said.
On a wider basis, including cars and building materials, retail sales rose 7.2% in July from the previous month and 1.6% from July last year, IBGE said. Sales in the first seven months of this year, however, were still down 6.2%.
(Reporting by Jamie McGeever; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
