(Adds background, inflation details)
MEXICO CITY, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Mexican retail sales fell for the second month in a row in December, dropping 0.5 percent from November, the national statistics agency said on Monday.
Sales slid 2.0 percent in December from the same month a year earlier, the fifth such decline in five months. It was the biggest annualized drop in sales for any month since March 2013.
Private spending has been a pillar of support for the Mexican economy, which faces threats from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said he may ditch the NAFTA trade accord.
Nonetheless, Mexico has also suffered stubbornly high inflation. Banco de Mexico's governing board unanimously voted to hike the key rate by 25 basis points on Feb. 8 to 7.50 percent, its highest level since February 2009, and board members remain concerned by still-high prices. Earlier this month, Mexico's retail association ANTAD said sales at stores open for at least a year rose 3.9 percent in January from the same month a year earlier.
Retail sales (pct Dec 2017Nov 2017Dec 2016change) month/month -0.5-0.2-1.0year/year -2.0-1.59.0(Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by David Gregorio)
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