The retail sales news is particularly important because it's consistent with the theory that the springsurge in petrol prices was a major cause of the economic slowdown earlier this year.
零售业的消息之所以格外重要是因为和此理论不谋而合：油价的春季飙升才是年初经济放缓的主要原因。
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But if that recovery was ever on track, it was derailed this spring by the surge in energy prices and the earthquake that relegated Japan to the economic sidelines for a few months.