Retail Sales Increase 7.5% Over Second ’91 Quarter : Economy: Last year’s figures for the county, however, were depressed by the absence of military personnel on duty with Operation Desert Storm.

San Diego County retail sales rose by 7.5% during the second quarter ended June 30, over the same three months’ sales activity in 1991.

The previous year’s sales, however, were depressed by the absence of about 80,000 uniformed military personnel who are normally stationed in San Diego. Local servicemen and women were then participating in Operation Desert Storm.

The dip in last year’s sales was made evident by the fact that second quarter 1992 retail sales were still 3% less than during 1990’s second quarter, when San Diego’s economy was beginning its slide into the recession that still persists.

The sales figures, gathered in the Census Bureau’s monthly sample survey of San Diego County retailers, are not adjusted for inflation or for seasonal buying patterns.

In “real dollars,” or adjusting for the affects of inflation, retail sales in the county over the last two years are down more than 10%.

The number of San Diego County residents working in retail and wholesale-oriented jobs is down by 8,000, or 4%, over the past year alone, according to state Employment Development Department figures.

According to the Census Bureau, total countywide sales for April, May and June were $4.57 billion, compared with $4.25 billion over the same quarter in 1991, and with $4.7 billion in 1990.

Countywide sales for the month of June were up 7.8% from local sales in June, 1991. That compares with a 1% month-to-month increase in California retail sales and a 4.2% increase nationwide over June.

Kelly Cunningham, research analyst with the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce, said the figures, while an improvement over last year, show that the local economy is mired in a downturn.

“We’re still down from the peak in 1989,” Cunningham said. “Population growth has slowed down. Employment has decreased, and retail sales have been following along with that.”

As for the chamber’s forecast, Cunningham said not that “things should be fairly flat for the rest of 1992, possibly over the next year and a half.”