German retail sales rose in August, indicating that a recovery in Europe's largest economy is gathering pace.
Sales adjusted for inflation and seasonal swings increased 0.5% from July, when they fell a revised 0.2%, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today.
Economists had predicted an increase of 0.8%. Sales advanced 0.3% from a year earlier.
The Bundesbank said last week that Germany's economy is being boosted by an "extraordinarily good" consumer climate.
Economic growth of 0.7% in the second quarter and a jobless rate near a two-decade low helped propel Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats to win September 22 elections, setting her up for a third term as leader.
The Bundesbank predicts GDP will increase 0.3% this year and 1.5% in 2014. The unemployment rate held at 6.8% in September, according to a separate Bloomberg survey. The Federal Labour Agency is due to publish the jobless numbers tomorrow morning.
The European Central Bank estimates that the 17-nation euro economy, Germany's biggest export market, will shrink 0.4% this year before growing 1% in 2014.
