Eurozone sees continued retail sales fall
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Retail sales across the eurozone declined at their fastest pace for ten months during August, the latest surveys by financial information provider Markit reveal.
The group’s latest purchasing managers’ indices (PMIs) for retail activity show sales fell for the forth consecutive month, as strong growth in Germany was offset by weakness in France and Italy.
The composite eurozone retail PMI fell to 48 points in August, its lowest reading since October 2010. A result below 50 points indicates that activity is contracting.
Over the month, German retailers posted their sharpest monthly gain in sales since April. The country has seen retail sales increase for 11 months running, which is the longest sequence recorded since the survey began in January 2004.
However, French retailers experienced their strongest rate of contraction since February while those in Italy were hit by “another steep fall” during their sixth month of declines.
Trevor Balchin, a senior economist at Markit and author of the report, says: “The divergence between Germany and Italy remains stark, while French retailers are showing signs of slipping into a sustained period of falling sales.”
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