TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's retail sales, a major indicator of consumer spending, fell 0.2 percent in February from a year earlier for a record 35th month of declines, the government said Monday.
Japan has been trying to spark a recovery in consumer spending, but near record high unemployment has made that difficult, and Japan recently slipped back into a recession.Sales by retailers across Japan totaled $94.48 billion (10.089 trillion yen) in February, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry said. Sales at Japan's large-scale retailers fell 0.9 percent on-year to $15.22 billion, after adjustment for the change in the number of stores, the government said.
February supermarket sales fell 2.5 percent on-year to $8.68 billion, while convenience store sales fell 2.9 percent to $4.51 billion during the same period.
Japan is struggling to pull out of its worst economic slowdown since World War II.
The Japanese economy officially fell back in recession in the October-December quarter, after a period of anemic growth fueled by a massive government spending binge last year.
Amid flagging demand, Japanese supermarket chain operator Nagasakiya Co. last month filed for bankruptcy protection.
But the government has been predicting that Japan is about to turn the corner economically, and there were some encouraging signs in Monday's figures. For example, department store sales rose 1.3 percent on-year to $6.54 billion.