German retail sales surged in January as Europe's biggest economy regained momentum and unemployment fell, data released Friday showed. The statistics office said retail sales jumped by 3.1 per cent from December, when they had dropped by 2.1 per cent. Analysts had expected a rise of only 0.9 per cent in January. Retail sales were 2.4 per cent higher in January compared with the same month last year, dpa reported. The release of the latest retail sales figures came one day after the labour office said the seasonally-adjusted number of people out of work in the country had dropped by 3,000 in February. German consumer confidence is set to rise for the second consecutive month in March, according to a forward-looking survey released this week.
