German Recovery Broadens as 2010 Retail Sales Surged

Germany’s recovery broadened in 2010 as consumer spending strengthened and companies increased investment in Europe’s largest economy.

Retail sales may have increased as much as 1.6 percent in 2010, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today, citing an estimate based on the first 11 months of the year. That would be the biggest gain since 2004, when sales increased 2 percent. Exports, adjusted for working days and seasonal changes, rose 0.5 percent in November from the previous month, half of what economists had expected, a separate report showed.