Retail sales fell 13.1% year over year, worse than the 11.5% market estimates. The decline likely means consumption declined in the fourth quarter.
“This will cause the recession to be extended for at least a sixth quarter,” says Daniel Hewitt, a Russia economist with Barclays Capital in London.
Real wages fell 9.0%, but that’s better than the 11% decline in October. Unemployment on the other hand rose to 5.8% from 5.5% in October, so within any margin of error.
Russian industrial is still negative, falling 3.5% on the year. Consensus estimates had it at -2.9%. The good news is that the negative numbers are not as high as they were a few months ago. They’ve been on the upswing for the past six months, but are still in the red.