Japan. Retail Sales (YoY). The value of the indicator has decreased from 3.5% to 2.2%

A report on this calendar event is released monthly by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Retail is a volume of sales of goods and services to the final consumer for a certain period. Retail is included on the list of the most important macroeconomic indicators together with GDP, inflation and level of unemployment.

The important role of retail is to be a leading indicator, which means, its dynamics serve as the base for the forecast of upcoming changes in the whole state of the economy.

Retail includes all types of deals: via personal contacts, trade networks, internet, mail, etc. Often the retail is calculated separately for the nondurable (less than 3 years) and durable goods (more than 3 years). Core retail sales are also to be calculated separately; it doesn’t include the cars, fuel on filling stations, building materials and catering services. These sales categories are subject to the strongest fluctuations; therefore, they may not be taken into account in the overall retail sales indicator for a more accurate understanding of the economic situation.

Comments by the MarketCheese analysts: a decrease of the indicator value may contribute to the fall in quotes of JPY.