2019.11.2906:29:00UTC+00Germany Retail Sales Growth Eases Sharply In October

Germany retail sales grew at a much slower pace in October, data from Destatis revealed Friday.

Retail sales grew only 0.8 percent annually after expanding 3.4 percent in September. Economists had forecast an annual growth of 3 percent. Nonetheless, this was the fourth consecutive increase in sales.

Sale of food, beverages and tobacco gained 0.3 percent and non-food product sales were up 1 percent.

On a monthly basis, retail sales fell 1.9 percent, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.2 percent. Sales had remained flat in September.

During January to October, retail sales increased 2.8 percent annually in real terms and by 3.4 percent in nominal terms.

Another report showed that the number of unemployed increased slightly by 0.8 percent to 1.34 million in October. The unemployment rate held steady at adjusted 3.1 percent since May 2019.

On an unadjusted basis, the unemployment rate was 3 percent in October, unchanged from September.