The Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce released sales tax data that show that the decline in retail sales in Charlottesville and Albemarle slowed during the second quarter of 2009.
According to data compiled from UVA’s Weldon Cooper Center, retail sales for Albemarle, compared to the second quarter of 2008, are down 10.68 percent, an improvement on the 12.78-percent drop of the first quarter of 2009.
In Charlottesville, the drop in retail sales was 3.31 percent, compared to the 13.59-percent drop of the first quarter. Augusta County has seen the highest drop—a decline of 28.06 percent compared to a drop of 21.91 in the first quarter. In Greene County, retail sales saw an increase of 16.37 percent in the second quarter.
Retail sales for Albemarle and Charlottesville for the first half of 2009 total $1,004,679,700.
