Eurozone retail sales increase at slower than expected rate
Retail sales increased at a slower than expected clip across the Eurozone in January, with household budgets continuing to be strained by both high inflation and rising interest rates.
According to Eurostat, retail sales rose 0.3% in January - below the 0.5% increase forecast by economists. On an annual basis, retail sales were down 2.3%.
The rise, which did little to reverse the 1.7% fall seen in December, was driven by food, drinks and tobacco, which combined for a 1.8% month-on-month increase in January.
By contrast, online trade dropped 2.9%, a fourth consecutive monthly decline, and fuel sales fell 1.5%, steeper than the 0.5% fall predicted by economists.
However, despite the modest uptick, current strained macroeconomic conditions economy will likely result in a weak first quarter for both retail sales and consumer spending as a whole, with falling real incomes weighing on households.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com