HONG KONG - Hong Kong retail sales rose 11.9% in August from a year earlier, the seventh consecutive month of growth, as demand benefited from an improved labour market and an economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sales surged to HK$28.6 billion ($3.67 billion) in August, government data showed on Thursday. They grew a revised 2.8% in July.

In volume terms, retail sales jumped 10.6% year-on-year in August, compared with a revised 0.7% surge in July.

(Reporting by Donny Kwok and Twinnie Siu; Editing by Edmund Blair) ((donny.kwok@thomsonreuters.com; +852 3952 5874; Reuters Messaging: donny.kwok.reuters.com@reuters.net))