Singapore retail sales leap 6.5% in November, thanks to car sales

Singapore

SINGAPORE'S retail sales jumped 6.5 per cent year-on-year in November 2014, but only due to a large spike in car sales. The month-on-month momentum painted a less encouraging picture of private consumption too (see infographic).

Retailers raked in an estimated total of S$3.2 billion in sales in November 2014, up from S$3 billion a year earlier.

But excluding motor vehicle sales - which surged 50.2 per cent - retail sales would have fallen 0.4 per cent in November from a year ago.

That surge in car sales offset lower sales in furniture and household equipment, which fell 6.8 per cent, and recreational goods, which fell 6 per cent. Sales at petrol service stations fell 5.7 per cent, in part due to lower pump prices. At constant prices, sales would have fallen a smaller 1.4 per cent year…