The DZS released its preliminary estimates which show that retails sales in October, according to working-day adjusted data, increased by 0.2% in nominal terms and by 1.5% in real terms in comparison with the same month last year. This was faster growth than in September 2015 when retail sales had increased by 1.3% year on year.
This is also the 15th consecutive month to record a public consumption growth , which has not been recorded since 2007.
This, however, is a somewhat slower growth than expected. Four economic analysts polled by Hina had forecast an increase of 1.6% on average, their projections ranging from 1.5% to 1.8%.
A further increase in retail sales was suggested by improvements in the consumer confidence index, analysts at Raiffeisebank Austria said in their comment on the DZS report.
The increase in retail sales in October implies steady growth in the forth quarter in comparison with the same period last year, the RBA analysts said.