Retailers in the euro zone saw stronger sales than expected in May, providing a rare ray of light for the bloc's increasingly struggling economy, official EU data show today.
The volume of retail sales in the euro zone rose 1.2% from April and nudged up 0.2% over 12 months, the European Union's Eurostat data agency said. The figures exceeded economists expectations for an increase of only 0.5% over one month and a fall of 0.6% over one year.
The improvement followed on the heals of a slump in April when retail sales fell 0.6% over one month and tumbled 3% over one year, Eurostat said.
Despite the higher volume of sales in June, economists stressed that it would not reverse a weak trend in previous months and pointed out that the improvement was underpinned by stronger sales in Germany, Europe's biggest market.
In the 27-nation EU, retail sales rose 1.3% in May from April and 2% over 12 months.
