"At this stage, our best estimate is that the region's GDP will have contracted by 0.1 percent in the first three months of the year"
- Chris Williamson, chief economist at survey compiler Markit
The euro zone retail sector expanded in January, compared to the previous month. Retail sales rose 0.3 per cent, after declining 0.5 per cent in December, announced the European statistical agency (Eurostat) on Monday.
"The series tends to be rather volatile from month to month so we prefer to look at the trend," said Ken Wattret, chief euro zone market economist at BNP Paribas.
"On a three month on three month basis, sales contracted in January by 0.8 percent, matching the weakest performance since spring 2009, when the economy was coming out of the post-Lehman collapse," he said.
"At this stage, our best estimate is that the region's GDP will have contracted by 0.1 percent in the first three months of the year," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at survey compiler Markit.
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