Eurozone retail sales rise at slowest pace since June

Eurozone retail sales rose at their slowest pace since June in October but marked a sixth consecutive monthly gain, data released on Thursday showed.

The latest Markit Eurozone retail purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which tracks month-on-month changes in like-for-like sales across the Eurozone’s largest economies, declined from 51.9 in September to 51.3 last month.

However, the index remained comfortably above the 50 threshold that indicates expansion thanks to sales growth in both Germany and France, although the former recorded its slowest rate of growth in eight months, while Italian retailers reported a decline.

In terms of individual countries, only France’s headline retail PMI advanced in October, returning to growth for the first time in three months, while Germany recorded the weakest rise in sales since February, although it also marked the 13th consecutive monthly gain.

Eurozone retailers missed their sales targets in October, Markit added, indicating the degree of underperformance was the most marked in four months, although slightly weaker than the long-run trend.

Meanwhile, the degree of confidence eased in all three surveyed countries, particularly in Germany. October saw further growth in retailers’ buying levels, marking the third time in the past four months that purchasing activity has increased.