Italian Retail Sales Pick Up In June

(RTTNews) - Italy's retail sales rose in June following declines in previous two months, latest data from statistical office Istat showed Tuesday.
Sales at the country's retail stores increased 0.3% month-on-month in June following declines of 0.1% and 0.4% respectively in May and April. The increase was better than the expected 0.1% rise. Details of data showed that sales of food products stagnated in June, while non-food sales increased 0.5%.
Retail sales dropped for a third consecutive month on an annual basis, but the pace of decline eased to 0.5% from 1.9% recorded in May. In the first six months of the year, retail sales were down 0.3% compared to the same period a year ago.