The Bloomberg Eurozone Retail Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), covering France, Germany and Italy, shows that economic conditions rose sharply to a four-month high in March. At 53.4, up from 49.8 in February, the PMI signalled the first increase in sales for three months.
France saw the strongest increase in sales (among the euro area's three largest countries), for the second month running, registering an acceleration in sales growth to the fastest since last July (the index rose from 54.7 to 56.8). Sales recovered in Germany, with the index rising sharply from 45 to a three-month high of 52.8. Sales fell slightly in Italy from 50.4 to 49.6, continuing the trend of near-stagnation seen since the start of the year.
The strongest sales compared with the same period a year ago were seen for clothing and footwear, followed by household goods, largely driven by a bounce-back in sales at German retailers for both.
