Department store sales in Tokyo fell 0.9 pct in February from a year earlier to 126.6 bln yen, falling for the first time in four months, the Japan Department Stores Association (JDSA) said. In January, sales at department stores here rose 0.1 pct year-on-year. The JDSA report, covering 28 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. Consumer spending underpins 55 pct of the economy, and lately has been increasing because of a marked improvement in labor market conditions. A sustained rise in retail sales is being counted on to keep the economy on a recovery track and economists want to see if this trend will continue amid concerns that global economic growth may slow because of high oil prices. In February, sales fell in four of the eight product categories and rose in the four, the JDSA said. Sales of clothing, the largest product category, accounting for 34.2 pct of total revenue, increased 0.4 pct from a year earlier. Sales of food, the second-largest category, at 22.5 pct of the total, were up 2.6 pct. Sales of furniture and home appliances, the third-largest category, at 17.4 pct of the total, declined 2.2 pct. Sales of personal belongings such as handbags, jewelry and accessories, the fourth-largest category, accounting for 12.7 pct of total revenue, rose 0.4 pct. Sales of everyday household products, the fifth-largest category, with a 6.9 pct share, were down 14.2 pct. Sales at store restaurants and cafeterias, accounting for 2.7 pct, added 0.1 pct. Revenue from services, accounting for just 1.1 pct of total sales, fell 5.1 pct, and sales of miscellaneous items, which make up 2.5 pct of the total, were down 1.5 pct.