German retail sales made a weak start to 2008, Bundesbank data for January showed this morning.
Sales including vehicles and sales at petrol stations fell by 1.3 per cent on the month in January, compared to a 1.5 per cent rise in December.
Retail sales hampered economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2007, and economists have been hoping that in 2008 higher wages and a healthier job market would give Germans the urge to spend more.
Unemployment fell by a larger-than-expected 75,000 on the month in February, data showed yesterday, but economists said the positive trend, which has pushed the jobless total down for 23 straight months, was likely to slow.
A separate gauge of retail sales for January, excluding vehicles and petrol stations, today showed a 1.6 per cent rise in real terms on the month, and a 0.6 per cent rise on the year.