Drop in retail sales

Cutting back: A shopper holding a bag in the Ginza area of Tokyo. People are seeing their disposable income being cut with food and petrol prices rising. —Bloomberg

TOKYO: Japan’s retail sales fell for a third straight month in February amid the country’s biggest wave of virus infections adding to concern that the economy’s recovery may have slipped back into reverse.

Sales fell 0.8% in February from the month before, as shoppers cut back spending on clothes and accessories, the economy ministry reported yesterday.