Euro zone sales fall

Retail sales in the 16 countries that use the euro unexpectedly fell in November, official figures today.

Figures from Eurostat showed that eurozone retail sales were down 1.2 per cent in November from the previous month, in contrast to the 0.2 per cent increase recorded in October.

Eurostat said declines were reported in both the food and non-food sectors.

The figures suggest consumer spending in the October-December quarter is unlikely to be much better than the 0.2 per cent quarterly decline reported in the previous three-month period.