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Euro zone September retail sales fall more than forecast
Retail sales in the 17 countries sharing the euro fell more than expected in September from August despite some resilience in powerhouse Germany, the EU's statistics office said on Monday, reinforcing concern that the bloc's economy may be heading for a recession. In the first negative reading since May, sales slipped 0.7 percent in September, compared to the 0.1 percent decrease forecast by a Reuters poll of economists, Eurostat said in an initial estimate. Sales in the 27-nation EU fell 0.3 percent in the same period. Retail trade in the euro zone also fell 1.5 percent on an annual basis in September and by 0.8 ... (full story)