Eurozone retail sales rise but undershoot forecasts
By Sean Farrell
Date: Wednesday 05 Aug 2020
(Sharecast News) - Eurozone retail sales increased 5.7% in June, short of market expectations, as trading rose strongly in Spain and Italy but declined in Germany.
Economists' average forecast was for sales to increase 6.1% from May but the figures from Eurostat indicated a solid rebound from Covid-19 shutdowns. The figures were a slowdown from the 20% jump in May as lockdowns were lifted and showed volumes returning to pre-Covid-19 levels.
Sales rose 16.5% in Spain and 13.8% in Italy with Ireland's smaller market notching up a 21.9% increase. Sales rose 9.5% in France and fell 2,5% in Austria and 1.6% in Germany, the region's biggest economy.
The biggest increase from May was in automotive fuels, where sales rose 20.4% as restrictions on movement eased. Sales of non-food products rose 12.1% and food, drink and tobacco sales dipped 2.7%.
Retail sales rose 1.3% from a year earlier after declining 3.1% in May. June's result was ahead of the consensus forecast for a 0.2% decline.
Claus Vistesen, chief eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the figures were solid but that there was an uncertain path ahead as government's phase out emergency measures to prop up economies.
"The recovery in retail sales has to be seen in the context of very strong online shopping - which we doubt will be sustained - and generous furlough and income support schemes," Vistesen said. "To the extent that the next six months will be characterised by rising labour market uncertainty and reduced income support, at the margin, from fiscal measures, the road from here will be bumpy in the headline retail sales data."
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