Ireland Retail Sales Remain Flat In December

(RTTNews) - Ireland's retail sales remained unchanged at the end of the year, after falling in the previous month, damped by a slump in sales of clothing and footwear and textiles, data from the Central Statistics Office showed on Friday.

The volume of retail sales showed no variation over the month, following a 0.9 percent fall in November.

Among categories, the largest monthly increase was observed in sales of motor trades, rising 4.0 percent. This was largely offset by a 16.8 percent plunge in sales of clothing, footwear, and textiles. A 7.7 percent fall was also seen in electrical goods sales.

On a yearly basis, retail sales climbed 0.5 percent in December, in contrast to a 3.6 percent drop in November. Further, this was the first increase in eight months.

At the same time, the sales value rose 8.3 percent yearly and by 0.5 percent monthly in December.