Puerto Rico retail sales up 1.7% in June
Retail sales for June were up this year.
Puerto Rico’s retail sales reflected a slight 1.7 percent jump year-over-year in June, when economic activity exceeded $3.1 billion, according to data released by Puerto Rico Trade and Export Wednesday.
The current number is up from the $3.0 billion in record for June 2013.
However, when broken down by sector, most retail categories took a hit year-over-year.
For example, furniture store sales were down nearly 17 percent in June 2014, when compared to the same month the prior year. Department stores were also on the negative side, with sales dropping by 18.5 percent year-over-year, the statistics showed.
But on the flip side, hardware stores, meat and seafood shops, gas stations, and women’s clothing stores all showed positive year-over-year results, with 13.2 percent, 12.7 percent, 17.1 percent and 24 percent jumps, respectively.
In June 2014, the island’s small businesses — those with a quarterly payroll of less than $20,000 — showed a 5.11 percent improvement in sales, while medium sized operations with payrolls of between $20,000 and $250,000 saw sales increase by 2.7 percent. Large operations, with payrolls exceeding $250,000, saw sales drop by 2.7 percent, the data shows.
During the January-June period, Puerto Rico’s retail sales reflected a 1.5 percent improvement, with economic activity reaching nearly $18 billion.
