Retail sales increased year-over-year for the first time in nearly three years in August, Government statistics revealed yesterday.The Retail Sales Index figures showed $85 million was spent at local retail outlets, which represented a 0.1 percent increase in sales from the $84.9 million spent in the same month last year.But when inflation is taken into account, sales volume actually fell for the 40th month in succession, by 2.2 percent.The most significant increase came in the service stations sector, which recorded a seven percent increase in sales, driven by a 12 percent increase in the cost of fuel.Building materials stores, whose precipitous sales declines since late 2009 had shown signs of bottoming out in the previous two months, experienced a 10.2 percent fall in sales in August. The RSI report attributed the fall to the reduction in the number of construction projects and the reduced stock of supplies available to customers.There was good news for apparel retailers, whose sales rose for the third successive month. The increase was driven by tourist spending.Food stores reported a 0.4 percent increase in sales, while liquor sales rose 1.5 percent, buoyed by an extra shopping day this year compared to August 2010.Motor vehicle sales fell 3.4 percent. Even though more units were sold, prices were lower than last year.The value of goods purchased overseas and declared at the airport was $7.5 million, down 3.8 percent from last year’s total of $7.8 million.