German retail sales rise for third straight month

Retail sales in Germany unexpectedly rose for the third straight month in September, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office.

Retail sales were 1.2% higher over the month in price-adjusted terms, following a revised 1.2% increase in August and a 1.5% gain in July, Destatis reported on Thursday.

Compared with the year before, retail sales growth picked up to 3.8%, from the 2.2% annual gain in August.

Economists had pencilled in a month-on-month reduction of 0.5% over September.

Food sales were down 0.8% during the month, while non-food retail rose 1.7% and ecommerce and mail order sales jumped 3.1%.