Eurozone Retail Sales Fall In December

(RTTNews) - Eurozone retail sales declined in December on falling food store turnover, official data revealed on Thursday.

Retail sales fell 0.2 percent on a monthly basis in December after remaining unchanged in November, Eurostat said. Sales were expected to drop 0.1 percent.

Food, drinks, and tobacco sales declined at a faster pace of 0.7 percent, following a 0.1 percent drop in November.

Meanwhile, non-food products sales grew 0.3 percent, in contrast to the 0.4 percent decrease in November. Automotive fuel in specialized stores growth softened to 0.2 percent from 0.7 percent.

On a yearly basis, retail sales increased at a faster pace of 1.9 percent after rising 1.6 percent in the previous month.

December's decrease in retail sales means that growth over the fourth quarter as a whole slowed substantially, Capital Economics' economist Elias Hilmer said.

"We suspect that spending growth will remain subdued in the coming quarters," said Hilmer.