Italy Retail Sales Fall For First Time In 3 Months

(RTTNews) - Italy's retail sales declined for the first time in three months during March and at the fastest pace in nearly two years, data from ISTAT showed Thursday.

Retail sales fell 0.6 percent from February, when they grew 0.3 percent. Sales were flat in January.

The latest decline was the first since December and the worst since May 2014, when there was a 0.8 percent slump.

Food sales decreased 1.2 percent after growth in the previous month and non-food sales tumbled 0.3 percent.

On a year-on-year basis, retail sales rose 2.2 percent in March after a 2.7 percent gain in the previous month. Sales grew annually for a second consecutive month.