Irish consumers have been very resilient through the recent downturn according to retail sales figures released today.
The value of retail sales rose by 3.1 per cent in January 2002 compared to January 2001, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said today. Excluding the strong seasonal effect of New Year motor sales, the annual increase is even higher at 6 per cent.
The seasonally adjusted volume of retail sales also rose by 0.9 per cent in January, the CSO said.
On a three-month basis, which gives a more stable indication of underlying trends, the November-January 2002 volume figures show a 1.2 per cent increase compared with the three months ending October 2001.
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December is the latest month for which there are final detailed sectoral figures.