–METI Repeats Retail Sales Are Flat After Downgrading Its View in February
–Department Store Sales Rebound, Fuels Up, Demand for Medicine, Cosmetic Solid
By Max Sato
(MaceNews) – Japanese retail sales rebounded on the year in March while marking the first monthly rise in four months as the government eased public health restrictions and the weather improved after heavy snow hit some regions in February, data released Thursday by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed.
The government ended strict Covid rules on March 21 that were in place for about two months, allowing people to go shopping and traveling more freely and businesses to return to normal operating hours on condition that they maintain social-distancing and hygiene standards.
Global semiconductor shortages continued to delay shipments of vehicles, leaving new car sales down. Sales of machinery and equipment also remained depressed amid supply constraints and waning stay-at-home demand for appliances.
The key points from the METI’s Current Survey of Commerce:
* Japanese retail sales rose a preliminary 0.9% on the year in March after falling 0.9% (revised down from a 0.8% drop) in February, when the Omicron variant caused the worst spike in Covid cases during the two-year pandemic, and rising in the previous four months. It was firmer than the median economist forecast of a 0.4% rise. Automobiles remained weak (down 6.6%). Department store sales showed the first rise in two months (up 1.8%) while sales of fuels continue to soar (up 15.2%) on rising energy prices. Demand for medicine and cosmetics remained solid (up 4.1%).
* On the month, retail sales jumped 2.0% on a seasonally adjusted basis in March for the first rise in four months after falling 0.9% (revised down from an initial 0.8% fall) in February. The three-month moving average in adjusted sales rose 0.1%, the first gain in three months after falling 0.7% the previous month.
* The ministry maintained its view, saying retail sales are “flat” after downgrading it in February (for January data) from its previous statement that sales were “showing signs of a pickup.”
* In the January-March quarter, retail sales posted the first quarter-on-quarter drop, down a seasonally adjusted 0.8%, after rising 1.5% in October-December.
* In fiscal 2021, retail sales rose 1.9% percent, marking the first annual rise in three years after falling 2.8% in fiscal 2020 and dropping 0.4% in fiscal 2019.
* Industry data released Monday showed department store sales marked the first year-on-year rise in two months in March, up 4.6%, after slipping 0.7% in February and jumping 15.6% in January. The Japan Department Stores Association reported that the easing of Covid restrictions and improved consumer sentiment propped up overall sales. Milder weather supported spring clothing sales and demand for luxury goods remained strong while sales related to the new school year and weddings also increased, it said.