Retail Sales in Germany down for third consecutive month, France’s consumer spending weak

Earlier today official report announced that German Retail Sales declined for third consecutive month during April, as probably cold and rainy weather caused most consumers to reconsider their purchases, leaving them for the coming months. Retail Sales during April dropped by 0.4% on a monthly basis, disappointing estimations for a 0.2% rise, while the indicator recorded a mere 0.1% drop during the previous month, according to revised data. In annual terms, sales managed to increase by 1.8% during April, surpassing projections for a 1.1% rise. Revised data showed that during April 2012 sales dropped by 2.5%, compared to April 2011. These results are expected to chill optimism among analysts, who suggested that consumer expenditures in Germany could be supportive to economic growth. Additionally, unemployment rate in Euro zones largest economy rose, according to yesterday data, fueling concerns about labour market stability.

Meanwhile, it became clear, that consumers, in France also, diminished their expenditures during April, as households spent less on first necessity goods. Consumer Spending dropped by 0.3% during April, compared to March, above expectations for a larger drop of 0.6%. First necessity goods expenditures contracted by 3.3% during April, as this data came in consonance with the unemployment data in France. The number of people out of work in Euro zones second economy rose to the record 3.26 million during April. Earlier this week it was reported that Consumer Sentiment in the country also dropped to a record low in May.

Despite all these dampened economic results, EUR/USD pair was still above psychological level (1.3000), at 1.3034.