Mubasher: German retail sales declined for the fourth month in a row in October, signalling weaker consumer spending in Europe’s largest economy.

Turnover in retail trade fell 0.3% in October, after the same drop in the previous month as the volatile indicator swung into reverse last July, the Federal Statistics Office (Desatis) said on Friday.

Meanwhile, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a gain of 0.3%.

Although October’s headline figures were “disappointing,” November data, including Black Friday, would help in getting “a clearer picture of sales over [the fourth quarter] as a whole,” Pantheon Macroeconomics chief Eurozone economist Claus Vistesen said.

“Evidence from last year suggest that sales and consumers’ spending dipped in October, before a strong rebound in November as consumers took advantage of the Black Friday deals,” Vistesen added.

Spending by German shoppers rose by 5% on the year in real terms last October, the Destatis said.

Household spending has become a major growth driver in recent years as Germans benefit from record-high employment, high wage hikes and low interest rates.

However, private consumption weakened during the third quarter, subduing the overall economic growth.

By 11:36 am GMT, the EUR/USD pair went down 0.24% to $1.1366.