ROME: Italy’s retail sales dropped for the second straight month in August, data from the statistical office Istat showed Friday. Retail sales fell 0.3 percent in August from July, when they decreased 0.4 percent. Sales were forecast to grow 0.2 percent in August.
Sales of food and non-food products dropped 0.4 percent each in August. On a yearly basis, retail sales slid 0.5 percent in August, following a 0.4 percent fall in July. Economists had forecast an annual growth of 0.8 percent. Data showed that the volume of retail sales decreased 0.4 percent from July and by 1 percent from same period of previous year.