Euro zone retail sales fell in August, data showed on Thursday, pointing to a weakness in consumer demand and underlining expectations of an approaching recession.
Eurozone Retail Sales YoY: -2% (Forecast -1.7%, Previous -0.9%)
The European Union's statistics office Eurostat said retail sales in the 19 countries sharing the euro fell 0.3% month-on-month for a 2.0% year-on-year drop.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.4% monthly fall and a 1.7% year-on-year decline.
The fall in retail sales, seen as a proxy for consumer demand, underlines economists' expectations that the euro zone is likely to go in to a recession in the coming quarters, hit by the energy price shock created by the Russian invasion of Ukraine
