Retail sales in Germany fell more than expected on the month in July, Federal Statistics Office data showed Monday, adding to the gloomy economic picture in Europe’s largest economy.

Retail sales fell 1.5% on the month in July, according to calendar year and seasonally adjusted data, the statistics office said.

Retail sales were unchanged on the year, it said, adding that July 2008 had 27 shopping days, one more than in July 2007.

Economists in a Dow Jones Newswires survey had forecast a fall of 0.4% on the month.

The weaker-than-expected data is another sign of a further deterioration in the consumer climate, with shoppers’ purchasing power being eroded by inflation.

Market research group GfK’s forward-looking consumer climate index fell to 1.5 points for September, the lowest level since the summer of 2003, from a downwardly revised 1.9 points in August.

In June, retail sales fell 1.4% on the month and plunged 3.9% on the year. The statistics office left its preliminary readings unchanged. In the first seven months of 2008 retail sales fell 0.5% in real terms, the statistics office said.

Food, beverage and tobacco sales have been the main casualty of the downward trend, falling 3.7% in real terms in the January-July period and down 2.9% in July compared with the same month in 2007, it added. The data are based on figures from seven German states that account for about 76% of total sales. The data don’t include car sales and sales at gas stations.

Source: http://www.djnewswires.com/eu

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