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Large drop in eurozone retail sales in August does not bode well for 3Q GDP
Retail sales fell by 1.2% month-on-month in August, which makes a negative contribution to third-quarter GDP very likely. Headwinds for retail remain as real wage growth is still negative and consumers are currently still favouring services. After a few months of stagnation, it looked like the downward trend in retail sales had stopped. August data put an end to that hope, as the 1.2% month-on-month drop has put us back on track with the previous declining trend. The decline was broad-based, with both food- and non-food products seeing considerable declines of 1.2 and 0.9%. While real wage growth is improving, it ... (full story)