German retail sales saw a big increase
Eurozone retail sales returned to growth in October, following two months of falls, figures have shown.
Sales in October were up by 0.5% from September, and 1.8% higher than a year ago, Eurostat said.
The increase was bigger than analysts' forecasts for a 0.2% rise, however there were big variations between different eurozone countries.
German retail sales jumped by 2.3% in October, whereas in France sales were down by 0.1%.
Eurostat said, external that eurozone sales of food, drink and tobacco rose by 1% in October, whereas non-food sales increased by just 0.1%.
For the European Union as a whole, retail sales were up by 0.4% in October, and also showed a 1.8% annual increase.
Howard Archer, chief UK and European Economist at IHS Global Insight, said: "It must be borne in mind that the fundamentals are still not that great for consumer spending given that the eurozone unemployment rate is currently at a 12-year high of 10.1%, wage growth is muted, and tighter fiscal policy will increasingly kick in across the region over the coming months.
"The suspicion is therefore that eurozone consumers will remain pretty cautious in their spending."
