Official figures indicate that falls in the volume of retail sales have stabilised. The Central Statistics Office said sales volumes increased by 2.3% in April from March. Sales are still down 17% from a year earlier, mainly because of a dramatic drop in motor sales earlier in the year, but this is little changed from the 17.7% annual fall recorded in March.
The CSO said motor sales fell another 3% from March and were down by just over 50% in a year. Without motor sales, the annual fall in the volume of retail sales was 7.1% in April.
A breakdown of the April figures showed that food sales rose 5.1% from March, while sales at non-specialised stores - mainly supermarkets - were up 3%. But bar sales dropped 5.2% in the month and are now down more than 12% in a year.
Sales linked to housing and construction continued to show big falls. Furniture and lighting sales were down 6.4% in the month and 38.4% over a year, while hardware, paints and glass sales fell 6.3% from March and 17.7% over a year. Electrical goods sales showed a monthly fall of 2.7% and an annual fall of 15.8%.
The value of sales, which takes prices into account, was up 2% in the month but down 20.5% over 12 months.
