Euro area retail sales bounce back in January

Retail sales in the single currency bloc grew more quickly-than-anticipated at the start of 2019, but failed to offset the prior month's drop.

According to Eurostat, the volume of retail sales increased at a month-on-month clip of 1.3% in January and were ahead by 2.2% versus the year earlier period.

But in December they fell by 1.4%.

In January, sales of food, drinks and tobacco jumped by 2.2% versus the month before while those of non-food products increased by 1.7%.

Among the latter, sales via mail orders and the internet were especially strong, rising by 7.2%.

Automotive fuel sales were also strong, jumping by 4.3%.

From among the euro area's largest economies, sales in France grew by 0.9%, after a drop of 0.6% in November, while those in Germany jumped by 3.3%, erasing the prior month's decline of 3.1%.