Italy retail sales stagnate in October for second month running

Italian retail sales were flat in October for the second month running, data showed on Tuesday, pointing to ongoing stagnation in consumer demand in the recession-bound economy.

National statistics institute ISTAT marginally revised up September's data from an originally reported 0.1 percent drop. Retail sales have not posted a month-on-month rise since April this year.

Sales were down 0.8 percent in unadjusted year-on-year terms in October, the sixth straight fall, following a 0.6 percent decline in September which was revised from a previously reported 0.5 percent drop.

The data are expressed in value terms and are not adjusted for consumer prices, which rose just 0.2 percent in October from the year earlier, based on Italy's EU-harmonised index (HICP).

In the first 10 months of 2014 unadjusted retail sales were down 1.3 percent from the same period of last year.

(Gavin Jones, Rome newsroom)