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HK retail sales retreat 14.6 pct in January

Xinhua, March 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Retail sales decreased 14.6 percent year on year to 46.6 billion HK dollars (6.01 billion U.S. dollars) in January in Hong Kong, the region's Census and Statistics Department said Tuesday.

After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the volume of total retail sales in January fell by 13.9 percent from a year earlier.

A government spokesman noted that the year-on-year decline in retail sales in January was partly due to the difference in timing of the Lunar New Year, which fell in mid-February this year but in late January last year.

As such, it would be more meaningful to examine the retail sales figures for January and February combined for a clearer picture of the underlying trend, when available, the spokesman said.

"Looking ahead, the near-term performance of retail sales will continue to hinge on the labor market conditions and inbound tourism growth," the spokesman said, adding that the government also needs to closely monitor the potential impacts on local consumption sentiment brought by various uncertainties in the external environment. Endi