Italy’s retail sales dropped unexpectedly in March, after staying flat in the previous month, figures from the statistical office Istat showed Friday.
Retail sales fell 0.2 percent year-over-year in March, defying economists’ expectations for a 0.4 percent climb. In February, sales showed no variations, which was revised from a 0.1 percent increase reported earlier.
Sales of non-food products decreased 0.8 percent in March from a year ago, while sales of food products grew by 0.7 percent.
Month-on-month, retail sales edged down a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent in March, the same rate of decline as in February, revised from a 0.2 percent hike. Economists had expected a 0.2 percent increase for the month.
In the first quarter, total retail sales rose 0.3 percent compared with the corresponding period of the prior year.
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