German retail sales post surprise fall in March

BERLIN: Price rises kept Germans away from the shops in March, retail sales data showed on Friday, in another sign that Europe’s largest economy may be slowing. Retail sales in March fell a real or inflation-adjusted 0.1 percent from February and slumped 6.3 percent compared with a year earlier, the statistics office said on Friday. Economists were caught on the hop. They had expected a 0.5 percent rise in sales from February and a 1.3 percent increase over March last year. A statement warned against excessive pessimism, saying the fall was due to a number of special factors including an early Easter holiday period meaning less shopping days, and a record performance in the year-earlier period. afp