Retail sales in Germany were weaker than expected in September, according to data from the federal statistics office released Thursday. Retail sales fell 0.4% from August, to their lowest level since March. Economists had expected a 0.3% gain.
Still, retail sales were up 0.2% from September 2012, and for the first nine months of the year, they were 0.2% higher than in the same period a year earlier. Overall, the trend in German retail sales remained slightly positive.
Results of a survey by GfK, Germany’s leading market research institute, also release on Thursday showed an unexpected slip in German consumer sentiment. The forward-looking consumer sentiment indicator fell for the first time in 10 months to seven points, after hitting a six-year high of 7.1 points in the previous period. The consensus forecast from economists had called for an increase to 7.2 points
Rampant food price inflation gets much of the blame, as it eats into consumers’ disposable income and dampens income expectations. Overall, sentiment remained upbeat in light of a robust labor market. Germans remained generally optimistic about their future income and the improving growth outlook
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