Italian Retail Sales October 2007

Italian retail sales fell for the eighth successive month in October as slowing economic growth hurt consumer spending and prompted many shops to offer discounts to attract customers. The seasonally adjusted version of the Bloomberg retail sales Purchasing Managers Index retail rose in October to 48, up from 44.1 in September. The index is based on a survey of 440 retail executives compiled for Bloomberg by NTC Economics Ltd. Since the reading continues to register below 50 this means that sales are contracting, and have been contracting since February. The rate of contraction did however slow down slightly in October.