Hong Kong's retail sales continued to decline in September, though at a slower pace than in the previous month, preliminary figures from the Census and Statistics Department showed Thursday.
The value of retail sales fell 4.1 percent year-over-year in September, much slower than the 10.5 percent plunge in August. Sales have been falling since March 2015.
Similarly, the retail sales volume dropped 3.9 percent annually in September, following a 11.0 percent slump in the prior month.
The value of sales of jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts dipped the most by 12.3 percent, followed by sales of commodities in supermarkets with a 0.4 percent drop.
Meanwhile, the value of sales of wearing apparel grew 1.8 percent on year and those of medicines and cosmetics rose by 1.2 percent.
"Looking ahead, the near-term outlook for retail sales is still subject to uncertainty, depending on the performance of inbound tourism as well as the extent to which local consumer sentiment will be affected by various external uncertainties," a government spokesman said.
"The Government will continue to monitor closely the retail sales performance and its repercussions on the wider economy and job market."
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