Sweden Retail Sales Fall 4.8%

(RTTNews) - Sweden's retail sales declined for the first time in four months in May, figures from Statistics Sweden showed on Monday.

Retail sales fell a seasonally and working-day adjusted 4.8 percent month-on-month in May, reversing a revised 1.5 percent increase in April.

Sales of consumables, excluding sales at the state-owned chain of liquor stores, declined 2.8 percent annually in May, and those of durables plunged by 6.0 percent.

On a yearly basis, retail sales showed a renewed fall of 1.8 percent versus a 4.9 percent strong growth in April. Retail sales in durables decreased by 1.5 percent, and sales in consumables were 1.4 percent.