German retail sales rise in April

Retail sales in Germany recorded in April, the biggest jump since December, officials figures released Friday showed.

Sales, adjusted for inflation and seasonal factors, shot up 2.6 percent from March, when they fell 0.3 percent, the Wiesbaden-based Federal Statistics Office said.

The increase was well above the 0.8-percent gain economists had expected, indicating that domestic consumption is recovering from a value-added tax hike in January, when the German government raised the tax from 16 percent to 19 percent.

But compared with a year earlier, sales dropped 0.6 percent, the office said.

Source: Xinhua