South African retail sales ease at a faster-than-expected pace in August

Retail sales in South Africa eased during the month of August, at a pace faster than what markets had initially anticipated.

Retail sales edged higher 0.2 percent year-over-year in August, slower than the 1.2 percent climb in July. It was also below the 0.6 percent gain expected by economists, data released by Statistics South Africa showed Wednesday.

Further, sales have been rising since July 2014. The latest rate of increase was the weakest in this sequence so far. Annual sales growth at general dealers moderated to 1.2 percent in August from 1.7 percent in the previous month.

In addition, sales of food, beverages and tobacco in specialized stores grew 2.6 percent, while those of household furniture, appliances and equipment declined by 6.8 percent.

Meanwhile, month-on-month, retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent from July, when it dropped by 0.2 percent. It was the first increase in three months.