Official figures show that the volume of retail sales in August was 9% lower than the same month a year earlier. This was the smallest rate of decline so far this year, though sales were down 1% when compared with July.
Retail sales figures this year have been badly affected by a sharp fall in sales in the motor sector. These dropped by almost 30% in the year to August. When these are excluded, the volume of sales was down 5.2% over the year.
A breakdown showed that bar sales are down more than 13% over 12 months, while categories linked to the property sector - furniture and lighting, electrical goods and hardware, paints and glass - are all more than 11% lower.
But there was a 26% rise in sales of furniture and lighting compared with July, which Ulster Bank economist Lynsey Clemenger said was 'almost certainly' attributable to the opening of the IKEA store in Dublin.
The value of sales, which takes prices into account, fell 13.4% compared with August last year, with a monthly drop of 1.4%, indicating that retailers are still lowering prices in a bid to attract customers.
Bloxham economist Alan McQuaid said consumer spending remained very weak, and that despite the lower rate of decline, a continued fall was expected over the rest of 2009.
