Retail sales in the euro zone turned out weaker than expected in September, and August sales were revised lower, European Union data showed today.
EU statistics office Eurostat said retail sales in the 13 countries using the euro, an indication of consumer demand, rose 0.3 per cent month-on-month in September for a 1.6 per cent year-on-year gain.
Eurostat also revised the August data to no monthly change from a 0.1 per cent rise and a 0.8 per cent year-on-year gain from 1.0 per cent.
European Commission data had earlier shown that consumer confidence, key in household readiness to spend, fell in September for the first time since January on the back of the global credit crunch. Consumer inflation expectations inched up.
Eurostat said today that prices at factory gates rose 0.4 per cent in September against August to stand 2.7 per cent higher than a year earlier.
Economists had expected a 0.3 per cent monthly rise and a 2.6 per cent increase in annual terms. The monthly rise in prices charged by producers was fuelled mainly by a 1 per cent increase in energy and a 0.5 per cent gain for non-durable consumer goods, which include food and clothes.
Oil prices jumped to around $80 a barrel by the end of September from around $75 a month before. Earlier data has shown that consumer food prices rose 0.6 per cent month-on-month in September and prices of clothes surged 6.1 per cent.