From FinancialTimes.

Retail sales in South Africa beat expectations, climbing up 3 percent in August after growing 2.9 percent in July.

Sales of textiles, clothing and footwear jumped 7.9 percent, while sales of hardware, paint and glass continued to grow strongly at 5 percent year on year. Sales of household furniture and appliances and medical goods fell 3.8 percent and 1.4 percent respectively.

Despite these signs of improving domestic demand, analysts at 4Cast said demand for luxury goods remained soft and vehicle sales declined. “We expect that retail sales will struggle to see any form sustained acceleration in the remainder of 2013, especially with unemployment stuck at around 25 percent with risk of increases due to layoffs in the mining sector on the back of higher labor costs and low profitability.”

Read more at FinancialTimes.