Japan’s Retail Sales Plunge After Sales Tax Hike, Typhoon
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Japanese retail sales plunged in October after a sales tax hike and a super-typhoon kept shoppers at home, a worse-than-expected outcome the government will need to consider as it mulls the size of a spending package to support growth.
Retail sales fell 14.4% in October from a month earlier, more than the drop suffered after a similar tax increase five years ago and the worst drop on record for economy ministry data stretching back to 2002. Economists had forecast a 10.4% decline in sales. Speaking after the release, analysts said the effect of the extreme weather had been larger than initially thought.