Ireland Retail Sales Rise 0.5%

(RTTNews) - Ireland's retail sales decreased for the third straight month in January, preliminary data from the Central Statistics Office showed on Wednesday.

The volume of retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent month-on-month in January, following a 0.3 percent gain in the previous month.

Among categories, the largest monthly increase was observed in sales of clothing, footwear, and textiles, which grew by 37.6 percent. A 3.9 percent rise was seen in sales of books, newspapers, and stationery.

Meanwhile, the biggest monthly volume decrease was observed in sales at bars, by 10.6 percent.

On a yearly basis, retail sales growth remained steady at 2.7 percent in January.

At the same time, the sales value climbed 0.9 percent monthly and 5.4 percent annually.