Markit PMI Retail Sales Index falls in Italy. The index fell to 45,6 points in January from 47,9 in December, reaching its lowest level in four months. The contraction is partly due to bad weather and lower attendance. The decline recorded in January is the sharpest in the last four months and has led, together with the sharp rise in purchase prices, to lower gross margins for the sector. Nonetheless, the employment level continued to increase for the fifth consecutive month.
Instead, the situation improves France. According to Markit Economics, the PMI index of January retail sales of the transalpine country rises to 53,1 points from 50,4 in December, a figure well above the psychological threshold of 50 points which separates growth from recession.
In Germanyhowever, the index dropped to 50,3 points in January, down from 52 points in December. This is the first drop in German retail sales since October 2014. In any case, the index shows that activity is still expanding, over 50 points.
