German Retail Sales Paint Uneven Picture

 
   


By Nina Adam 
 

        FRANKFURT-Germany's retail sales for June paint an uneven picture, collapsing unexpectedly from the previous month but surging over 5% from the year-earlier period.
        This may be partly due to annual revisions, a spokesman at the federal statistics office said Friday. Each year, roughly 17% of a total of 24,000 companies included in the monthly calculation of retail sales data are replaced.
        German retail sales in June dropped 2.3% from May, adjusted for inflation and seasonal swings, but rose 5.1% from the year earlier-period. Destatis said there were two more working days in June this year than last.
        By comparison, economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a flat monthly reading.
        However the positive trend in retail sales remains intact, the data showed, a sign that private consumption will continue to support growth in Europe's largest economy.
        In the first half of the year, retail sales were up 2.5% from the same period a year ago.
        Private-sector forecaster FocusEconomics expects Germany's economy to expand 1.8% this year and 2.0% in 2016.
        Write to Nina Adam at nina.adam@wsj.com
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        July 31, 2015 02:40 ET (06:40 GMT)

#Forex
#FX
#SaleForex
#GermanRetailSales
#UnevenPicture
#CollapsingUnexpectedly