February saw a further broad stagnation in eurozone retail sales. Following a similar story to the previous month, increases in both France and Germany were offset by another marked contraction in Italy.

The headline Markit Eurozone Retail PMI - which tracks the month-on-month changes in like-for-like retail sales in the bloc's biggest three economies combined - dipped to 49.9 in February, from 50.1 in January, and signalled little change in the level of sales in the eurozone retail sector.

Alex Gill, economist at IHS Markit which compiles the Eurozone Retail PMI survey, said: "A divergence in retail sector performance across the euro area persisted in February, with German and French retailers enjoying a further rise in sales while their counterparts in Italy endured a fourteenth successive decline. That said, retail companies across the eurozone took on additional staff members, partly indicative of firms' optimism with regard to their near-term outlook for sales growth. Meanwhile, strong competitive pressures, combined with a further marked rise in average input costs, continued to squeeze gross margins."