RETAIL TRADE

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31235, 6 December 1966, Page 7

RETAIL TRADE

Increase In Turn-over There was an increase of 7 per cent in retail trade turnover during the three months ended September 30, compared with the same period last year, reports the Government Statistician (Mr J. V. T. Baker). The turn-over was £189.5 million, compared with £177.2 million in the same quarter of 1965, and the largest percentage of the increase was accounted for by sales of footwear and clothing, which were up by 13.9 per cent and 10.4 per cent respectively. Sales of household appliances, electrical goods, radios and television, which were down in all quarters of 1965, compared with 1964, have shown marked increases this year. Sales for the September quarter were 5.6 per cent higher than for the same period last year. However, the downward trend in sales of hardware, including builders’ hardware, paints, and so on, is continuing, and in the last quarter decreased 2 per cent compared with 1965.

The turn-over of the retail trade, corrected for seasonal fluctuations, was 0.8 per cent higher in the September quarter than in the preceding quarter of this year, and in the June quarter was 1.4 per cent higher than in the March quarter. On a per capita basis and with adjustments to remove the effects of price and population changes, turn-over moved from £61.8 in the June quarter to £61.7 in the September quarter.