Global| Apr 03 2008European Consumer Spending Weakens in February
Summary
Retail sales are clearly damaged goods in the Euro Area. The drop in February sales was not expected. Two months into the new quarter retail sales volume growth is dead flat. Trend spending growth shows all negative numbers but the [...]
Retail sales are clearly damaged goods in the Euro Area. The drop in February sales was not expected. Two months into the new quarter retail sales volume growth is dead flat. Trend spending growth shows all negative numbers but the degree of decline is steadily diminishing. High and rising food prices are affecting the volume of sales for food. Outside of food, purchases are weak but are showing some resilience with an increase over the recent three months. Nonfood purchases are rising at a 1.8% annual rate in the current quarter. Both Germany and the UK are demonstrating some resilience in the recent three months.
| Euro Area 15 Retail Sales Volume | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb-08 | Jan-08 | Dec-07 | 3-Mo | 6-Mo | 12-Mo | |
| Euro Area 15 Total | -0.5% | 0.5% | 0.0% | -0.3% | -2.1% | -0.9% |
| Food | -0.2% | 0.0% | -0.3% | -1.7% | -2.5% | -1.9% |
| Nonfood | -0.8% | 0.9% | 0.0% | 0.3% | -1.8% | -0.3% |
| Textiles | #N/A | 1.7% | 0.2% | 5.6% | -0.2% | 2.5% |
| HH Goods | #N/A | 0.7% | 0.6% | 1.9% | -2.0% | 0.5% |
| Books newspapers | #N/A | 1.2% | -0.4% | 3.8% | 0.5% | 2.4% |
| Pharmaceutical | #N/A | 0.3% | 0.1% | 1.8% | 2.5% | 3.2% |
| Other nonspecialized stores | #N/A | 0.8% | -0.1% | -0.1% | 0.3% | 1.7% |
| Mail order | #N/A | 0.2% | 3.0% | 7.6% | 2.1% | 4.4% |
| Nonfood Country Detail; Volume | ||||||
| Germany | -0.6% | 1.6% | -0.5% | 1.7% | -2.0% | -1.1% |
| France | #N/A | 0.6% | 1.0% | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A |
| Italy (Total: Value) | #N/A | 0.2% | 0.0% | -0.4% | 0.9% | 0.8% |
| UK (EU) | 1.8% | 1.0% | 0.2% | 12.8% | 8.8% | 8.3% |
| Shaded areas calculated on a one-month lag due to lagging data. | ||||||
| The EA 15 countries are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. | ||||||
Robert Brusca
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Robert A. Brusca is Chief Economist of Fact and Opinion Economics, a consulting firm he founded in Manhattan. He has been an economist on Wall Street for over 25 years. He has visited central banking and large institutional clients in over 30 countries in his career as an economist. Mr. Brusca was a Divisional Research Chief at the Federal Reserve Bank of NY (Chief of the International Financial markets Division), a Fed Watcher at Irving Trust and Chief Economist at Nikko Securities International. He is widely quoted and appears in various media. Mr. Brusca holds an MA and Ph.D. in economics from Michigan State University and a BA in Economics from the University of Michigan. His research pursues his strong interests in non aligned policy economics as well as international economics. FAO Economics’ research targets investors to assist them in making better investment decisions in stocks, bonds and in a variety of international assets. The company does not manage money and has no conflicts in giving economic advice.
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