HONG KONG - Hong Kong retail sales rose 2.9% in July from a year earlier, the sixth consecutive month of growth, as demand benefited from a stabilising of COVID-19 and an improved labour market along with an economic recovery.

Sales surged to HK$27.2 billion ($3.50 billion) in July, government data showed on Tuesday. They grew 5.8% in June.

In volume terms, retail sales jumped 0.9% year-on-year in July, compared with a revised 2.9% surge in June.

($1 = 7.7819 Hong Kong dollars)

(Reporting by Donny Kwok and Twinnie Siu; Editing by Andrew Heavens) ((donny.kwok@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2843 6470; Reuters Messaging: donny.kwok.reuters.com@reuters.net))