Retail sales in the euro zone dropped by 0.8 per cent in February, while the annual rise slowed to 0.5 per cent after a 1 per cent gain in January, EU statistics agency Eurostat said today.
Policy makers have been hoping consumers will start spending more and give the single currency zone's economy a boost. But the retail sales data failed to confirm a clear upward trend after January's month-on-month spike upwards of 2.3 per cent.
The Eurostat data showed that monthly sales in February of both non-food items and the food, drinks and tobacco sector saw falls, of 0.9 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively.
Among euro zone states, The Netherlands registered a fall in retail sales of 0.9 per cent month-on-month while France was down 0.7 per cent. But Germany registered a rise of 0.6 per cent.
Financial markets are betting that, for now, the European Central Bank will keep interest rates on hold, but speculation of a rate cut is expected to intensify if data related to the consumer sector come in weak.
