Sector data for February: agriculture, transport and retail trade

Макроэкономика 17.03.2015 In the first portion of the State Statistics Department's monthly data on key sectors published yesterday, agriculture, transport and retail trade sectors all declined year-on-year in the January-February period: the agricultural production index fell 2.3%; retail sales dropped 22.6%; cargo turnover (measured in tonnes times kilometres) decreased 23.6%; and passenger turnover (number of passengers times kilometres) slid 19.4%. However, the seasonally adjusted monthly data appears less gloomy: while the agricultural index increased 0.3% in February from January 2015 and retail sales rose 4.7% from the previous month, both cargo and passenger transportation turnover declined 1.9% and 2.9%, respectively, from the previous month.