Eurozone Retail Sales decrease in March, France trade deficit grows to record high. | CountingPips Forex & Currency Trading Blog

May 7, 2008 - Forex Economic News

Eurozone Retail Sales decrease in March, France trade deficit grows to record high.

Eurozone Retail Sales decreased in March according to a news release by EuroStat today. March retail sales declined 0.4 percent in the 15 country Eurozone after falling by a revised 0.2 percent in February. The retail sales decline was unexpected as market forecasts had expected sales to increase by 0.1 percent for the month. March's retail sales numbers are 1.6 percent below March 2007's sales level.

Eurozone sales of food, drinks and tobacco decreased by 0.1 percent in March and fell 2.7 percent below the March 2007 level. Non-food retail sales fell by 0.6 percent for the month and declined 0.9 percent for the year.

France Trade Deficit reaches record high.

The France trade balance showed a record high trade deficit in the month of March according to a release from the Customs Office, France. The France deficit in March totaled €4.752 billion after a revised deficit of €2.822 billion in February. The deficit was wider than expected as economic forecasts were predicting a deficit of approximately €3.1 billion. French exports for the month of March totaled €34.371 billion while imports totaled €39.123 billion.

Tags: eurozone retail sales, euro, france trade balance, deficit, imports, exports

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