Italy Retail Sales Recover In September

(RTTNews) - Italy's retail sales recovered at a stronger-than-expected pace in September, official data revealed Friday.

Retail sales grew 1.2 percent from August, when turnover was down 0.3 percent. Economists had forecast only a 0.2 percent increase in September.

Food sales increased 1.7 percent after stagnating in August. At the same time, non-food turnover rebounded 0.9 percent, following a 0.6 percent drop.

Compared to last year, retail sales posted an increase of 0.7 percent, which was weaker than the 0.9 percent increase seen in August. Nonetheless, sales expanded for the third straight month.