INTERNATIONAL

Mexico’s Retail, Wholesale Sales Rise: Retail sales rose 11% in September over the same month last year, a government agency said. It was the largest increase in two years and the second consecutive monthly gain. Wholesale sales rose 4.4% in September, the fifth consecutive monthly rise. The figures are from a survey conducted by the government’s Instituto Nacional de Estadistica Geografia e Informatica. It covered Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, the country’s three largest cities. For the first nine months, retail sales rose 0.4% and wholesale sales 5.2% over the year-earlier period. The survey also reported that the number of people employed in retail commercial establishments in the three cities declined 1.8% in September and that the number of people hired in wholesale outlets fell 4.4%. Retail workers’ real wages rose 1.4% in September.