Retail sales in the eurozone rose slightly in November, EU data showed on Thursday, offering a rare glimmer of good news in a currency bloc that has freshly slipped into deflation. The EU's Eurostat statistics agency said retail sales rose by 0.6 percent in November compared to October, indicating that European shoppers have not yet given in to the gloom made worse by market worries over snap elections this month in Greece.
The news comes a day after the eurozone officially waded into deflation territory with consumer prices falling by 0.2 percent in December, the first drop since the financial crisis five year ago. "Consumer spending is one area of the Eurozone economy which has shown some signs of life recently," said Howard Archer, chief economist at IHS Global Insight.
Meanwhile, Eurostat also said consumer confidence levels in the eurozone stabilised in December for the second straight month after several months of decline. "Eurozone sentiment has stabilised after the drop in the summer 2014 due to Russia's aggression in Ukraine, but failed to advance in December," said Christian Schulz of Berenberg Bank. By country, Spain showed its strongest consumer confidence since June 2007, at the height of the doomed Spanish housing boom. "It is the only major eurozone country with economic confidence closing in on boom territory," Schulz said.
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