Eurozone retail sales recovered at a faster than expected pace in October, data released by Eurostat showed on Thursday.
Retail sales increased 1.5 percent month-on-month, reversing a 1.7 percent fall in September. Economists had forecast a moderate growth of 0.8 percent.
On a yearly basis, retail sales growth accelerated to 4.3 percent from 2.5 percent in the previous month. This was also faster than the economists' forecast of 2.7 percent.
Data showed that sale of food, drinks and tobacco and non-food products gained 2 percent each in October. Meanwhile, sale of automotive fuel in specialized stores were down 3.7 percent.
If unemployment does not rise rapidly over the months of new limitations, it could well be that retail is once again well positioned to recover quickly, Bert Colijn, an ING economist said.
Before vaccinations are widespread, consumption of goods is likely to remain easier than some services, which favors the retail recovery, the economist added.
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