July 02, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 27, 1429

BERLIN, July 1: German retail sales were shown rebounding and unemployment falling in data on Tuesday, but with food and fuel inflation still squeezing consumers and firms hard, economists saw little reason for cheer.

“Unfortunately, even Tuesday’s data cannot disguise that Germany’s resilience is crumbling fast,” Bank of America economist Holger Schmieding said.

“The current mix of record oil prices, an overvalued euro and a hawkish ECB is more than even the German economy can stomach much longer.”

Strong sales of summer and spring clothes items such as sandals, skirts and sunglasses helped retailers see 1.3 per cent more cash going through their tills in May than in April, according to preliminary data from the statistics office.—AFP