Sweden's retail sales increased unexpectedly in July, after falling modestly in the previous month, data released by Statistics Sweden showed Monday.
The volume of retail sales increased a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent month-on-month in July, recovering from the previous month's 0.3 percent decrease, which was revised down from 0.4 percent. Economists had forecast sales to remain unchanged month-on-month in July.
Compared to July 2011, retail sales grew a working-day adjusted 2.4 percent in July, notably slower than the revised 1 percent gain recorded in June. Sales of consumables increased by 2.6 percent, while retail sales for durables increased by 2.2 percent.
In the three months ended July, the sales volume decreased by 0.1 percent compared to the previous three-month period, data showed.
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