Japan’s Retail Sales Unexpectedly Slump in Challenge to Abe
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Japanese retail sales unexpectedly fell in December, underscoring challenges to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s effort to stoke a recovery in the world’s third-biggest economy.
Sales slid 0.3 percent from November for a third straight monthly decline, the trade ministry said Thursday in Tokyo. That compared with the median estimate for a 0.3 percent gain in a Bloomberg News survey. Sales increased 1.7 percent in 2014.