Eurozone Retail Sales Rise For First Time In 5 Months

(RTTNews) - Eurozone retail sales grew for the first time in five months in February but the pace of growth was weaker than expected, official data revealed Monday. Retail trade increased 0.3 percent month-on-month in February, after remaining flat in the previous three months, Eurostat reported.

Although this was the first increase since September, the rate was slower than the forecast of 0.5 percent.

Sales of food, drinks and tobacco logged a monthly growth of 0.3 percent after rising 0.5 percent. Non-food product sales also gained 0.3 percent but in contrast to the 0.2 percent fall in January.

At the same time, automotive fuel in specialized stores showed a monthly growth of 0.2 percent following a nil growth in January.

Year-on-year, retail sales increased 2.3 percent compared to a rise of 1.8 percent in January. Sales were expected to grow again by 1.8 percent in February. Retail sales in the EU27 moved up 0.2 percent in February from the previous month and climbed 2.0 percent from a year ago.

Among member states, the highest monthly increases in the total retail trade volume were recorded in Cyprus, Estonia and Lithuania. Meanwhile, the largest decreases were seen in Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Poland.

Consumer spending is likely to grow at a moderate pace over the coming months, Capital Economics economist Ankita Amajuri said.

Unless some of the tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump last week are reversed, the hit to activity and confidence mean that spending growth could be weaker than the quarterly average of 0.3 percent that are currently forecasting, the economist noted.