German retail sales jump in June (AFP)

Frankfurt, Germany (AFP)-retail sales in Germany, the biggest European economy, earned a surprise 6.3 percent in June, provisional, seasonally-adjusted official figures published Friday showed.

Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a much more modest 1.7 percent from may, but economists agree that the indicator is volatile and subject to frequent revisions.

A statement issued by the National Statistics Office Destatis also noted that the result was affected by a change in the sample of companies that were interviewed.

The increase is still a strong rebound from the fall month of 2.5 percent in may, though.

"While the may issue was the worst in the last 10 years, the number of June is the highest since 2007," noted Commerzbank analyst Ulrike Rondorf.

On a basis of 12 months, retail sales fell by 1.0 percent in June, but noted there were Destatis 24 working days in June 2011, June 26, 2010.

Senior economist Carsten Brzeski felt ING data "show that German consumers are finally waking up."

"Of course, the rather daunting track record of German retail sales is reason enough to not overly excited," Brzeski added.

The figures however "offer some glimmer of hope that at least the German economy is heading toward a soft landing, not difficult," he said.

On a quarterly comparison, retail sales from April to June were 0.4% lower than in the first quarter, Rondorf said "supports our expectation that the German growth slowed considerably in the second quarter."

Within six months from January to June, meanwhile, sales gained 1.3 percent over the same period a year earlier, Destatis said.

The German HDE Retail Federation has predicted an annual gain of 1.5 per cent for the 2011 as a whole, but HDE President Josef Sankjohanser recently noted that "the traditionally stronger retail sales still await us."

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