Brazil's Retail Sales Fell in August -- IBGE

Brazil's retail sales declined in August after flat-lining the previous month, suggesting domestic demand may be losing steam after a rebound in the second quarter.

Retail sales fell 0.5% by volume in August from July in seasonally adjusted terms, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, or IBGE, said Wednesday. Compared with August 2016, sales were up 3.6%.

The month-on-month decline was broad-based, with lower sales of everything from foods and beverages to fuels and pharmaceuticals, the IBGE said.

The slowdown bodes poorly for Brazil's recovery from the deepest recession in more than a century. After two straight years of economic contraction, growth resumed in the first half of this year, driven in large part by consumer spending.

But economists warned that domestic demand was artificially aided by a one-off decision by the government to let workers draw money from the unemployment-insurance fund.

Write to Paul Kiernan at paul.kiernan@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 11, 2017 08:36 ET (12:36 GMT)