SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― South Korea’s retail sales are expected to have improved slightly in February, driven in part by increased sales at department stores and discount shops, a report showed Thursday.

Sales at department stores are estimated to have risen 1.1 percent on-year in February, a turnaround from the previous month’s 8.2 percent decline, the finance ministry said in a report that assesses the latest economic conditions.

Sales at discount store chains are also presumed to have jumped 10.2 percent last month from a year earlier. It followed a 24.6 percent plunge tallied in January, the report showed.

The figures are preliminary and final numbers will be available in a month, the ministry said.

The increase comes mostly from a spike in demand for foods and other products before and during the Lunar New Year holiday that fell on Feb. 10, the ministry explained.

The holiday, however, took its toll on sales of vehicles by reducing working days. Automobile sales are expected to have dropped 13.5 percent on-year in February, a turnaround from January’s 1.6 percent rise, the report showed.

Still, the country’s overall retail sales will likely be better than the previous month when the sales shrank 2.8 percent on-year, the report said.

“We need to take into account seasonal factors such as fewer working days, but the overall retail sales are expected to have improved slightly in February compared with the previous month,” a ministry official said.

“At least, we can say that the figures will not stay in the negative terrain just like in January,” he added.

Despite the expected rebound in retail sales, the report noted that consumption, corporate investment, production and other major indicators for the economy here remained sluggish last month.

The report added that risks from automatic budget cuts in the U.S., political instability in Italy and a delayed recovery in Europe remain in place, and they are posing uncertainty for the South Korea’s export-oriented economy.