Japan Retail Sales Jump 1.8% On Year In January

(RTTNews) - The value of retail sales spiked 1.8 percent on year in January, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Friday - coming in at 12.954 trillion yen.

That beat expectations for an increase of 0.1 percent following the 0.9 percent decline in December.

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail sales jumped 4.1 percent.

Large scale retail sales rose 4.1 percent on month and 3.0 percent on year after slipping 2.0 percent on month and rising 1.0 percent on year in December.

Commercial sales were up 5.0 percent on month and 1.3 percent on year at 50.287 trillion yen. Wholesale sales jumped 6.2 percent on month and 1.1 percent on year at 37.333 trillion yen.