German retail sales unexpectedly drop in April

German retail sales unexpectedly fell in April, according to the latest figures from Destatis.

Retail sales were down 0.9% on the month, versus expectations for a 0.9% increase. Still, this was better than the 1.4% drop seen in March.

On the year, retail sales were up 2.3%, beating economists’ expectations of a 1.9% jump.

Claus Vistesen, chief Eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the data was poor, with growth slowing rapidly.

“A downbeat headline, which indicates that the poor ending to the first quarter for German consumers’ spending continued in the beginning of Q2. With retail sales down 2.3% in the last two months, though, a rebound in May and June is a good bet,” he said.