German shoppers were reluctant spenders again in September, official figures show today, as a sombre economic outlook overtook a boost from lower energy prices to the biggest European economy.
Retail sales plunged by 2.3% in September from the previous month, seasonally corrected figures released by the national statistics office showed. Analysts had expected a one-month drop of 1.1%.
Sales rose by 1.2% in real terms compared with September 2007, however, the Destatis service said.
For the first nine months of 2008, the figure showed a reduction of 0.5% from the equivalent figure 12 months earlier.
Domestic consumption is traditionally the weak link in the German economy, and analysts noted that once again it would fail to compensate for falling exports that are the result of slumping economic activity worldwide.
They said that despite the marked retreat in energy prices and a healthy labour market, private consumption is just not getting off the ground.
The federal labour agency said yesterday that in October, the number of unemployed in Germany fell below three million for the first time for 16 years, taking the unemployment rate to 7.2%, its lowest level since November 1992.
