Football fans spend little in Swiss shops
The European football championships co-hosted by Switzerland and Austria in June failed to boost Swiss retail sales.
The Federal Statistics Office said on Monday that turnover was up two per cent in June or only 0.7 per cent when adjusted for inflation, and was therefore considerably weaker than in previous months.
Shops registered record growth in turnover in May with 9.3 per cent (7.4 per cent) compared with the same month in 2007.
The total increase for the first six months of 2008 was 4.4 per cent (2.7 per cent).
Sales of food, drinks and tobacco saw the largest increase in June (+5.8 per cent), followed by clothing items and shoes (+2.1 per cent).
The Swiss purchased fewer non-essentials such as electronic goods and spent less on cultural activities than they did a year ago.
According to a survey by the Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs, rising inflation has made consumers more cautious.
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