German retail sales fall unexpectedly in February

(Sharecast News) - German retail sales unexpectedly fell in February, according to official data published on Thursday, showing that consumer spending was unable to drive economic recovery.

Retail sales were down 1.9% compared with the previous month and the fourth consecutive decline.

Food retail sales fell by 1.7% in real terms compared to January. Non-food business fell by 1.0%, while internet and mail order sales saw a month-on-month real sales decline of 2.8%. IT equipment and cultural and recreational goods were the biggest risers.

"The soft data points to subdued consumer spending in Q1 unable to drive Germany's recovery," said Riccardo Marcelli Fabiani, senior economist at Oxford Economics.

Meanwhile, German unemployment figures rose less than expected in March, up by 4,000 in seasonally adjusted terms to 2.719 million and against expectations of an increase of 10,000.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com