Official figures show that weakness in consumer spending continued in November last year, as the volume of retail sales fell again. The Central Statistics Office said the annual decline in sales was the biggest since February 1984.
Retail sales volumes fell 1.2% compared with October, giving an annual drop of 8.1%.
A breakdown showed that motor sales fell by 2.1% in the month, while sales of furniture and lighting dropped 4.1%. Bar sales fell another 1.5%.
But sales of electrical goods rose by 3.5%, while department store sales were 3.1% ahead compared with October. Hardware, paints and glass sales also rose by 2.8%.
Categories linked to the construction market have shown the biggest drops over the 12 months to November, with furniture sales dropping by almost 26% and hardware, paints and glass falling 15.5%.
Meanwhile, the value of sales - which takes prices into account - also fell by 1.2% in the month, giving an annual drop of 6.8%.
