Retail slipped in December in Europe

BRUSSELS, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Retail sales shifted lower November to December in Europe, the data office Eurostat said Tuesday.

In the 27-nation European Union, sales dropped 0.6 percent while in the 17-nation eurozone, sales fell 0.8 percent, Eurostat said..

Among EU countries included in the report, Poland posted the highest month-to-month sales gain at 2.2 percent. In Estonia, sales rose 1.9 percent. In Sweden, sales climbed 1.1 percent.

The sharpest drop was a 3.2 percent decline in Romania. Sales fell 2.2 percent in Spain and 2.1 percent in Slovenia.

Data was either unavailable or withheld by the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, Hungary and the Netherlands, Eurostat said.