Russian Consumer Plight Worsens as Sales Flop Amid Diving Wages
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A slump in Russian wages accelerated more than forecast, crippling retail sales and underscoring the risk that the latest bout of ruble weakness will deepen the biggest drop in domestic demand under President Vladimir Putin.
Wages adjusted for inflation plummeted 9.2 percent from a year earlier in July after a revised 8.6 percent decline in the previous month, the Federal Statistics Service in Moscow said Wednesday in a statement. That was more than the 7.5 percent median of 17 estimates in a Bloomberg survey. Retail sales fell 9.2 percent, slumping for a seventh month.