The Mexican Retail Association Antad announced that the Same-Store sales at its member establishments declined 2.2% during the last month from the year-ago month, hurt by a pessimistic calendar effect.

Further, Antad added that the total sales at the stores surged 3.8 percent in the month of November last year to 71.9 billion pesos.

However, Same-Store grocery sales declined by 1 percent, whereas clothing sales fell 4.7 percent in the first 11 months of this year.

The fall in the same-store in the month of November contrasted with a 0.1% surge in the first eleven months of 2009.

Antad said, “Last month had one fewer Saturday than November 2008, which likely had a negative effect on sales.”

The fall in the same-store sales hinted that users haven’t noticed a considerable enhancement in their financial situation, months after the nation’s worst ever recession period.

The GDP of the country has increased by 2.9 percent during the third quarter from the second quarter in adjusted terms, but stood 6.8 percent lower from the third quarter of 2008.

Total sales at Antad's 17,136 member stores surged 6.9 percent in the first 11 months of the year to MXN734 billion.