Mexico Retail Sales Decline More Than Expected

(RTTNews) - Mexico's retail sales in September declined for the first time in five months and at a faster-than-expected pace, figures from the statistical office INEGI showed Monday.

Retail sales dropped 1.1 percent from August, when they grew 1.5 percent. Economists had forecast a 0.3 percent fall.

The latest decline was the first since April and the biggest since August 2013, when sales tumbled 3.6 percent.

Year-on-year, retail sales grew 4.9 percent in September after a 6.4 percent rise in the previous month. Economists had forecast a stronger increase of 7.2 percent. The latest gain was the smallest since May.