EU retail sales decline in December
Source: Bloomberg News |
February 4, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
EUROPEAN retail sales unexpectedly declined in December, led by Germany and France, as unemployment at a 14-year high and government spending cuts sapped consumer demand.
Sales dropped 0.4 percent in the month after a similar decrease in November, the European Union's statistics office in Luxembourg said yesterday.
Economists had forecast a gain of 0.3 percent, a Bloomberg News survey showed. Sales slipped 1.6 percent from a year earlier.
European households may cut spending as governments step up austerity measures to contain the region's fiscal crisis just as companies start to eliminate jobs. Eurozone unemployment held at 10.4 percent in December.
"The decline in euro-area December retail sales confirms our view that private consumption is likely to have fallen in the fourth quarter, contributing to a contraction in euro-area gross domestic product of 0.3 percent quarter on quarter," said James Ashley, senior European economist at RBC Capital Markets in London.
Sales dropped 0.4 percent in the month after a similar decrease in November, the European Union's statistics office in Luxembourg said yesterday.
Economists had forecast a gain of 0.3 percent, a Bloomberg News survey showed. Sales slipped 1.6 percent from a year earlier.
European households may cut spending as governments step up austerity measures to contain the region's fiscal crisis just as companies start to eliminate jobs. Eurozone unemployment held at 10.4 percent in December.
"The decline in euro-area December retail sales confirms our view that private consumption is likely to have fallen in the fourth quarter, contributing to a contraction in euro-area gross domestic product of 0.3 percent quarter on quarter," said James Ashley, senior European economist at RBC Capital Markets in London.
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