Russian Retail Sales Jump as Shoppers Offload Tumbling Ruble

Russian retail sales surged the most in more than two years as consumers enduring the country’s worst currency crisis since 1998 accelerated purchases to mitigate the effect of a sinking ruble.

December sales jumped 5.3 percent from a year earlier, quicker than November’s 1.8 percent advance, the Federal Statistics Service said Wednesday in a statement. The median forecast of 14 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a 2.8 percent increase. Wages adjusted for inflation fell 4.7 percent.