2012.05.31 12:42:59 UPDATE: German April Retail Sales Climb Higher Than Expected

-- April retail sales beat expectations -- Analysts still cautious on retail sales -- April retail sales helped by low unemployment, lower inflation and German wage gains By Christopher Lawton Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES (Adds comment, detail.) FRANKFURT (Dow Jones)--German retail sales in April beat expectations, providing some good news for a German economy mired in market turmoil and monetary union woes, but analysts have warned that the worsening economic crisis in the euro zone could still affect the region's largest economy. "We remain cautious on future retail sales," Annalisa Piazza, an economist with Newedge, wrote in a research note. "The current economic crisis might turn to be deeper than anticipated and affect the resilient German economy." Record low unemployment, lower inflation and recent German wage gains helped buoy consumption in April, analysts said, but household spending is likely to be muted in the coming months. Consumer sentiment data from German market research group Gfk last week also painted a mixed picture, suggested that while German consumers are more willing to buy than before, they don't think their incomes will rise in tandem with economic prospects. "The renewed euro crisis around Greece and Spain has affected consumer confidence in May. Over the next few months, this is likely to have a dampening effect on household spending," Berenberg economist Christian Schulz said. The 0.6% rise in retail sales in April beat expectations of a 0.1% gain in a survey of analysts by Dow Jones Newswires, and marked the second monthly gain this year after a sobering start to the year, data from the country's statistics office, Destatis, showed Thursday. The retail sales rise for March was also revised up to 1.6% from 0.8% reported last month. On the year, retail sales were down 3.8% in real terms in April and 2.0% in nominal terms. -By Christopher Lawton, Dow Jones Newswires, +49 69 2972 5515; christopher.lawton@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires May 31, 2012 06:42 ET (10:42 GMT)