Spain Inflation Steady At 2.7%; Retail Sales Growth Eases

(RTTNews) - Spain's consumer price inflation remained stable in August and retail sales growth softened, official data showed on Friday.

The consumer price index posted an annual increase of 2.7 percent in August, the same rate of rise as seen in July, flash data from the statistical office INE revealed. EU harmonized inflation also held steady at 2.7 percent.

Meanwhile, underlying inflation edged up to 2.4 percent from 2.3 percent in the previous month.

Month-on-month, the CPI remained flat after a 0.1 percent drop in July. Similarly, the HICP showed nil growth, following a decline of 0.3 percent. Retail sales increased 4.7 percent year-on-year in July, slower than the 6.2 percent rise in June, the statistical office said in a separate report.

Compared to previous month, retail sales slid 0.4 percent, partially offsetting the 1.2 percent increase in June. This was the first fall in six months.

Both food and non-food turnover decreased in July from June. Food sales edged down 0.1 percent and non-food sales decreased 0.3 percent.