Eurozone retail sales defied expectations of a rebound and fell in July, pulled down mainly by lower sales of food, drinks and tobacco in a sign consumer demand is yet to benefit from any nascent economic recovery. Retail sales in the 16-country euro area fell 0.2 percent against June and dropped 1.8 percent year-on-year, the European Union's statistical body, Eurostat, said on Thursday.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.1 percent rise versus the previous month and a 2.2 percent fall year-on-year. Data on second-quarter eurozone gross domestic product showed household demand contributed 0.1 percentage point to the GDP outcome in April-June, which economists attributed to government cash incentives for changing old cars for new ones.
Some said such schemes may have diverted household funds from smaller-ticket items, negatively affecting retail sales, which do not include car purchases. "It is likely that the retail sales data modestly understate the current strength of consumer spending in the eurozone as they do not include car sales which have been lifted substantially in a number of countries by 'cash for clunkers' schemes," said Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight.
"It is possible that this is diverting some spending away from retail sales," he said. Sales of food, drinks and tobacco fell 0.5 percent against June and were 1.8 percent lower than a year earlier. The eurozone's biggest economy, Germany, which returned to growth in the second quarter, posted a 0.7 percent monthly rise in retail sales. Economists have raised doubts about the speed and sustainability of any recovery because of high and rising unemployment, which reached 9.5 percent of the workforce in July - the highest in more than 10 years.
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