October retail sales dipped 1% as car sales floundered

Motor vehicle sales in October down 8.5% yoy.

Here's more from SingStat:

Month-on-Month Change (Seasonally Adjusted). After seasonal adjustment, retail sales of telecommunications apparatus & computers rose 6.9% in October 2012 over September 2012 (Table 1). Similarly, retailers of motor vehicles, watches & jewellery, furniture & household equipment and department stores registered increases in sales of between 0.5% and 1.9% compared to the previous month.

On the other hand, retail sales of petrol service stations, recreational goods, wearing apparel & footwear, medical goods & toiletries, food & beverages and optical goods & books decreased between 0.9% and 3.0% over the same period.

Year-on-Year Change. Compared to October 2011, retail sales of motor vehicles decreased 8.5% in October 2012. Retailers of optical goods & books, watches & jewellery, recreational goods and furniture & household equipment also registered declines in sales of between 0.7% and 2.9%.

In contrast, retailers of telecommunications apparatus & computers recorded an 8.0% increase in sales in October 2012 over October 2011. Similarly, retail sales of medical goods & toiletries, supermarkets, petrol service stations, wearing apparel & footwear and provision & sundry shops increased between 1.2% and 6.6% over the same period.