Department store sales in Tokyo rose 2.1 pct in December from a year earlier to 223.4 bln yen, increasing for the the second straight month, the Japan Department Stores Association (JADA) said. In November, sales at department stores here rose 4.3 pct, the biggest year-on-year increase since September 2000. In 2005 as whole, department store sales fell 0.9 pct to 1.91 trln yen, the JADA said. The JADA report, covering 27 department stores operated by 13 companies, is released about a week before the national sales figures for both department stores and supermarkets, and is viewed as a leading indicator of national consumer spending trends. A sustained rise in retail sales is being counted on to keep the economy on a recovery track, given a slow recovery of exports. Consumer spending underpins 55 pct of the economy, and lately has been increasing due to a marked improvement in labor market conditions. But economists want to see if that trend will continue amid concerns that global economic growth may slow because of high oil prices. In December, sales rose in four of the eight product categories and fell in the other four, the JADA said. Sales of clothing, the second-largest product category, accounting for 30.3 pct of total revenue, increased 5.0 pct from a year earlier. Sales of food, the largest category, at 30.6 pct of the total, were down 2.1 pct. Sales of furniture and home appliances, the third-largest category, at 16.3 pct of the total, gained 6.4 pct. Sales of personal belongings such as handbags, jewelry and accessories, the fourth-largest category, accounting for 13.3 pct of total revenue, rose 5.8 pct. Sales of everyday household products, the fifth-largest category, with a 5.2 pct share, were down 5.0 pct. Sales at store restaurants and cafeterias, accounting for 2.0 pct, fell 1.8 pct. Revenue from services, accounting for just 0.8 pct of total sales, rose 2.7 pct, and sales of miscellaneous items, which make up 1.6 pct of the total, declined 8.7 pct.