German retail sales stagnate in September

German retail sales, a closely watched measure of household confidence, stagnated in September, amid signs consumer sentiment in Europe's top economy is starting to wane, official data showed on Friday.

Retailers' sales were unchanged in September compared with August, the federal statistics office Destatis said in a statement.

The previous month, retail sales had fallen by 0.7 percent.

On a 12-month basis, however, business increased strongly, jumping by 3.4 percent in September compared with the same month last year, the statisticians calculated.

Retail sales data are often revised.

Earlier this week, a leading consumer sentiment survey, conducted by the GfK market research institute, found that consumers are beginning to worry about the economic consequences of the huge influx of migrants in Europe's refugee crisis.