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Singapore’s retail sales rose for the first time in 16 months in January as motor-vehicle purchases climbed and consumers bought furniture and household goods ahead of the Lunar New Year festival.
The retail sales index climbed 2.3% from a year earlier after falling a revised 4.9% in December, the Statistics Department said today. The median estimate of seven economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 0.5% gain.
The retail sales index climbed 2.3% from a year earlier after falling a revised 4.9% in December, the Statistics Department said today. The median estimate of seven economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 0.5% gain.
The improvement came as “we headed into Chinese New Year which was in early February,” Alvin Liew, an economist at Standard Chartered Plc in Singapore, said before the report.
The government raised its growth forecast for the $182 billion economy last month, predicting an expansion of as much as 6.5% this year as the global recovery takes hold. The opening of Singapore’s two casino resorts this year, which will include a theme park and convention centers, may also spur spending as more tourists visit the city state.
Universal Studios Singapore, part of Singapore’s integrated resort owned by Genting Singapore Plc.’s Resorts World Sentosa, will open this week, a month after the casino began operations. Las Vegas Sands Corp., the casino company controlled by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, will open the first phase of its Singapore casino on April 27.
Chinese New Year is celebrated by the majority of Singaporeans, who typically increase purchases of food and buy new clothing and household goods to usher in the new year. The holiday was on Feb. 14 this year.
UNEMPLOYMENT FALLS
Singapore employers are increasing hiring as the economy improves, according to a Ministry of Manpower report today. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 2.1% in the three months ended December from 3.4% in the previous quarter, and the city state added 37,500 jobs in the last three months of 2009.
Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales rose 1.3% from a year earlier, after a revised 3.1% gain in December, today’s report showed. Adjusted for seasonal factors, sales rose 5.8% from December.
Vehicle sales rose 5.4%, while purchases at gas stations gained 16.1%.
