Brazil Retail Sales Fell in April for First Time in a Year

Brazil’s retail sales unexpectedly fell in April for the first time in a year, after higher fuel and food prices prompted consumers to buy less and Latin America’s biggest economy showed more signs of slowing.

Retail sales fell 0.2 percent in April from March, after expanding a revised 1 percent in March, the national statistics agency said today. The contraction surprised 26 of 30 economists in a Bloomberg survey who expected sales to expand from the previous month and whose median estimate was for a 0.4 percent growth. Sales rose 10 percent from a year ago, the agency said.