Andreas Rees Private Quotations

These are very, very bad numbers. There is a risk that private consumption may have shrunk for a fourth consecutive quarter, which would be a new negative record.

Households had to spend a lot more on energy in 2005, and that's reflected in retail sales figures. Private consumption won't improve enough to sustain the economic upswing.

The latest figure is a nightmare. The renewed drop in retail sales poses substantial risks to both private consumption and real GDP at year-end 2005.