drop in food and drink sales
Euro Zone overall retail sales stronger than anticipated
The good performance was helped by increased demand for fuel, clothes and computers. However, there was a drop in the sales of food, drinks and tobacco.
Retail sales were revised up for July as well, in a fresh sign that households could help sustain the bloc's nascent recovery.
The volume of retail trade in the 17-nation bloc jumped 0.7% on the month, following a revised 0.5% increase in July, the EU's statistics office Eurostat said today.
Economists polled by Reuters expected a 0.2% rise in August and the previously reported July rise was 0.1%.
The monthly rise in August, the peak of the holiday season, was driven by a 0.9% jump in sales of car fuels and a 0.6% in non-food products, while sales of food, drinks and tobacco fell by 0.4% after a 1.2% increase in July.
The year-on-year reading showed a much smaller-than-expected 0.3 percent drop for August, following an also downwardly revised 0.7% fall in July. Economists polled by Reuters saw a 1.5% decline.
Source: esmmagazine.com
