The Eurozone's biggest economies  - - Germany and France  - - this week signalled that consumers are continuing to spend during the severest recession since 1945. France reported that consumer spending on manufactured goods rose a more-than-expected 0.7% in April, compared with March while Germany's GfK market research organisation said its "consumer climate" indicator was expected to hold steady in June for a fourth consecutive month. However, the situation is fragile and the Bloomberg Eurozone Retail Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), based on a mid-month survey of more than 1,000 executives in the region's retail sector and published on Thursday, pointed to a slightly faster rate of decline in May, compared with April (see links in Related below).