Poland October 2007 Retail Sales

Polish October retail continued their rapid rate of annual increase adding to evidence that economic growth remains strong despite four interest rate increases from the Central Bank so far this year. Retail sales rose an inflation corrected 16.3% in October over October 2006, this was up from a 12.2% rise in September compared with 14.2 percent in September, according to the Warsaw-based statistics office today.





The growth which is driven by sales of vehicles (which rose 42% year on year) and sales furniture and household appliances (a 21.9% annual rate of increase) - confirms the impression that consumer demand is being bolstered by falling unemployment, which dipped to an 8 1/2-year low, higher wages, which last rose the most in seven years last month, and a steady and economically significant inward flow of remittances.


The unemployment rate fell for the ninth consecutive month in October to 11.3 percent from 11.6 percent in September, the office said in a separate report today. Earlier this month, the office said that average corporate wages advanced an annual 11 percent in October and employment grew a record 5 percent from the year before.



Economic growth slowed to 6.4 percent in the second quarter from 7.2 percent in the first three months of the year. The report on third-quarter gross domestic product will be released on Nov. 30 at 10 a.m. The full-year growth will be in the region of 6.5 percent, Deputy Finance Minister Katarzyna Zajdel-Kurowska said at a seminar in Warsaw today, confirming the ministry's earlier forecast.