The information about the increase in retail sales in January was published in Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU. The experts had previously announced an increase of 0.8%, but calculations showed that during previous month the retail sales were two times less (in January sales volumes grew by 1.6 %).

If we consider the annual rate, it turns out that sales increased by 1.3%, although economists promised decrease by 0.2%. Analysis in the context of European countries has shown that in France sales grew by 1.2 % and in Germany by 2.5%. Such indicators analysts and entrepreneurs called more than optimistic.

Another important indicator is the composite index of purchasing managers of the European Union (PMI), based on data from the 18 European Union countries, in February 2014 decreased, for the first time after it reached its peak in the summer 2011.