24/7 Wall St.

The signs that the German economy is in a recovery instead of a period of stagnation have continued to grow. Retail sales data for May confirmed this. The Germany consumer has become an engine of GDP improvement, perhaps replacing the awful recessions and consequent lack of imports by its neighbors.

The government reported:

 According to provisional results of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), retail turnover in May 2013 in Germany increased 2.0% in nominal terms and 0.4% in real terms compared with the corresponding month of the previous year. The number of days open for sale was 24 in May 2013 and 24 in May 2012, too.

When adjusted for calendar and seasonal variations (CENSUS-X-12-ARIMA), the May turnover was in nominal terms 1.1% and in real terms 0.8% larger than that in April 2013.

Compared with the previous year, turnover in retail trade was in the first five months of 2013 in nominal terms 1.6% and in real terms 0.2% larger than that in the corresponding period of the previous year.

With struggles in the other large economies — which include the United States, China and to a lesser extent Japan — Germany may be the single bright spot.