Retail Fails to Impress
CSO.ie today released their monthly Retail Sales Index report. While the trend is continuing downward as expected it is only when compared to this time last year the impact of this downward trend is more obvious. Here is the chart showing the Retail Sales Index since January 2000:
The volume of sales has decreased by 7.3% since October 2007. The reports for the month of November and December are going to show even further drastic falls with retailers struggling to attract customers during the Christmas season even with pre Christmas sales.
CSO.ie also reported on the number of new dwellings approved for planning permission for the 3rd quarter of 2008. There has been a decrease of 30.9% in the number approved year on year. This figure breaks down to a 40.3% drop in apartments and 27.2% drop in houses.
