Mexico Retail Sales Rise 1.6% In January

(RTTNews) - Mexico's retail sales increased for the second straight month in January, and at a faster-than-expected rate, data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, or INEGI, showed on Thursday.

Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 1.6 percent month-on-month in January, faster than the 0.3 percent gain in December.That was above the 0.8 percent increase economists had expected.

On a yearly basis, retail sales growth accelerated to a 6-month high of 4.9 percent in January from 3.0 percent a month ago.

Without adjustment, retail sales advanced 5.3 percent annually in January versus an expected increase of 3.0 percent.

Sales of textile products, costume jewellery, clothing accessories and footwear surged 18.2 percent annually in January, and those of motor vehicles, spare parts, fuels and lubricants grew 11.8 percent.

Data also showed that the wholesale trade decreased 0.8 percent annually and by 0.3 percent monthly in January.