Japan's combined wholesale and retail sales rose 0.5 percent in February from a year earlier to 44.9 trillion yen, showing the first increase in 25 months, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Thursday.
Sales by wholesalers rose 0.7 percent to 35.02 trillion yen, posting the second consecutive monthly increase, while retail sales dropped 0.2 percent to 9.88 trillion yen, down for the 23rd month in a row, METI said in a preliminary report.
The increase in wholesale sales is mainly attributable to increased oil prices, brisk exports of steel products to other parts of Asia and higher sales of medicines for hay fever, a METI official said.
Despite the rise in combined sales, the official said, "We have yet to see a clear sign of recovery and will observe the situation for a while."
Sales by large retailers -- supermarkets and department stores -- increased 2.8 percent to 1.56 trillion yen from a year earlier.
Supermarket sales climbed 5 percent to 939.6 billion yen, but department store sales slipped 0.4 percent to 620.5 billion yen.
Convenience store sales grew 5.7 percent to 528.5 billion yen from a year earlier, largely pushed by strong demand for some discounted highway-toll prepaid cards, which were no longer issued after February, the official said.