Tokyo, March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Sales at Japan's supermarkets anddepartment stores fell in February as record high unemployment andslowing income growth kept people from spending. Sales at department stores dropped 2.5 percent last month from a yearago to 585.2 billion yen ($4.74 billion), the fifth straight decline, the JapanDepartment Store Association said. Supermarket sales slid 6.2 percentto 1.2 trillion yen, Chain Store Association figures showed. Retailers such as Takashimaya Co., Japan's biggest department store,and Mycal Corp. the fourth-biggest retailer, are hurting as newcomerssuch as Fast Retailing Co. and Costco Wholesale Corp. win customersby cutting prices. ``Department stores are under a lot of pressure, as there's a lot ofcompetition,'' said Kazuhiko Ogata, senior economist at HSBCSecurities (Japan) Ltd. before the figures were released. ``We will seesome weak department stores go bankrupt in coming months.'' The long drop in sales is taking its toll on retailers such as YokohamaMatsuzakaya Co., which last week widened its forecast net loss for theyear ended Feb. 28 to 251 million yen from 145 million yen. Takashimaya last month said it'll probably miss its operating profitforecast in the fiscal year ended February. Mycal is cutting 2,700 jobsand closing 50 stores in a bid to reduce its debt. Record high unemployment and smaller wage rises, combined withfalling prices, is keeping a lid on spending. That's acting as a brake oneconomic growth -- consumer spending, which accounts for 60 percent ofeconomic activity, hasn't contributed to growth for the past two quarters.