Eurozone retail sales fell in November

Retail sales fell by 0.8 percent across the 17-nation eurozone in November, slumping after a 0.1 percent increase in October, official figures showed on Friday. In the wider, 27-nation European Union, which includes non-euro members Britain and Poland, retail trade dropped 0.6 percent in November after an increase of 0.2 percent the previous month. On an annual comparison, sales fell by 2.5 percent in the eurozone and by 1.3 percent in the EU between November 2010 and November 2011. Among EU states for which data was available, the steepest monthly falls were recorded in Portugal (2.6 percent), Malta (1.6 percent) and Germany and Finland (both dropped by 0.9 percent).