Eurozone retail sales inch higher, meet forecasts

Retail sales across the eurozone inched higher in August, according to figures released by Eurostat on Monday.

Seasonally adjusted retail trade volumes rose by just 0.2% during the month following a flat reading for July and a 0.4% decline in June.

The reading was in line with economists' predictions and the highest rate of growth – albeit only marginal – since March when sales were up 0.6% over the month.

According to Eurostat, food, drinks and tobacco sales were up 0.2% during August, while sales of non-food products excluding fuel rose 0.3% and fuel sales increased 1.1%.

The strongest monthly increases were seen in Luxembourg (+5.3%) and Cyprus (+2.2%), while the steepest declines were registered in Slovakia (-1.1%) and Croatia (-0.7%).