Retail sales in the eurozone rose less than expected in April, data from the EU statistics office showed on Tuesday, but analysts still see robust economic growth prompting rate rises by the European Central Bank. Eurostat said retail sales in the 13 countries using the euro gained 0.2 percent month-on-month for a 1.6 percent year-on-year increase.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected rises of 0.5 percent and 2.0 percent respectively. "The data suggest that consumers still remain cautious about markedly stepping up their spending in a number of countries despite markedly improving labour markets and overall eurozone consumer confidence climbing to a six-year high in May," said Howard Archer, chief European economist at Global Insight.
Retail sales, which point to the strength of consumer demand, rose by 5.0 percent annually in the eurozone's second largest economy, France, and by 1.6 percent in Spain, slowing from a 5.2 percent jump the previous month. They edged up 0.6 percent annually in Germany, the currency bloc's biggest economy, ending a three-month losing streak that followed an increase in the country's value-added tax.
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