MNI 5 THINGS: Japan Jan Retail Sales Rise 0.6% Y/Y, -2.3% M/M

     TOKYO (MNI) - Japan's retail sales growth slowed to an eight-month-low in

January, with underlying weak demand across industry, preliminary data released

Thursday by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) showed.

     The key points from the latest retail sales data:

     --Retail sales slowed to 0.6% on year in January from December's 1.3%,

lower than an MNI forecast of 1.0% y/y, marking the lowest rate seen in the last

eight months. 

     --Fuel sales contracted to 2.0% y/y in January, down from December's 3.9%,

the slowest since August 2017. Sales of medicine and cosmetics decelerated for a

forth month to 2.6% y/y in January from 2.7% recorded in December.

     --Sales for food and beverages declined by 0.4% y/y from the 0.4% gain in

December. Apparel sales fell by 0.3% y/y, sharply down from December's 4.2%

gain.

     --On month, retail sales decreased by 2.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis

in January, down from December's 0.9% rise. 

     --METI lowered its view on retail sales from last month's "picking up

gradually" to "seesawing".

--MNI Beijing Bureau; tel: +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: flora.guo@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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