Retail sales in the euro zone increased in July, new data has revealed.
The July Bloomberg Eurozone Retail Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) indicated that month-on-month sales at Eurozone retailers increased modestly in July, rising from 49.1 in June to 51.0.
This is only the second monthly expansion in sales of the year so far.
German retail sales remained the main driver of overall growth (52.2), increasing for the fifth consecutive month.
Also increasing at a shaper rate than in June, French retail sales aided growth (51.9), increasing for the third consecutive month. Italy remained a drag on overall growth in sales compared to a month earlier (48.0), though the rate of contraction in Italian retail sales eased sharply from last month.
However, the monthly survey also reported that July euro zone retail sales, although up from the previous month, continued to be down compared to the same month last year (46.7). Italy saw the strongest rate of decline in year-on-year retail sales (40.5) for the fourth month running.
But the overall rate of decline in yearly sales eased from last month as German retailers recorded moderate growth in year-on-year sales for the first time in four months (52.0).