Figures from the National Statistics Institute show that there was a 4.6% fall in Balearic retail employment in March compared with the same month last year. Retail sales, on other hand, were up 16.2%, but for half of March 2020 there was the lockdown, when only supermarkets and certain essential outlets were open.
Comparing the March 2021 figures with 2019, sales were down 2.3% and employment by 6.2%. For the first quarter as a whole, sales were down 4.7% and employment by five per cent compared with 2020.
Nationally, there was an historical increase in sales of 18.1% in March. This ended twelve consecutive months of year-on-year decreases. Food sales in March were up 4.3% compared with March 2020. This was a relatively small increase because supermarkets were open last March. For other segments, there was a 46.8% increase, with sales of personal equipment and household equipment having gone up by 87.5% and 74.4% respectively.