Eurozone Retail Sales Fall More Than Forecast

(RTTNews) - Eurozone retail sales declined more than expected in December, data released by Eurostat revealed on Tuesday.

Retail sales were down 1.1 percent on month, in contrast to the 0.3 percent increase in November. This was the first decline in three months. Economists had forecast sales to drop 0.9 percent.

Food, drinks and tobacco sales eased 1.6 percent and non-food product sales slid 1.0 percent. Sales of automotive fuel in specialized stores decreased 0.5 percent.

Mail orders and internet sales posted the biggest decline of 3.7 percent.

The annual fall in retail sales volume doubled to 0.8 percent from 0.4 percent in November. Sales were forecast to fall 0.9 percent.