Euro zone retail trade fell by 0.8 per cent in November and was down 0.6 per cent for the European Union as a whole.

In October, retail trade had risen by 0.1 per cent in the Euro zone and by 0.2 per cent for the EU27.

The retail sales index decreased by 2.5 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively in November.

Total retail trade rose in just seven member states in November with Ireland showing the second largest increase at 2 per cent, behind Lithuania (4.2 per cent) but slightly ahead of Latvia (1.9 per cent).

The biggest decreases in monthly retail trade were in Portugal, Malta, Romania, Germany, Poland and Finland.

Separate Eurostat figures show the seasonally-adjusted euro zone unemployment rate was unchanged at 10.3 per cent in November. The EU unemployment rate was also unchanged at 9.8 per cent.

Eurostat estimates that 23.674 million men and women in the EU, of whom 16.372 million were in the euro zone, were unemployed in November. Compared with the previous month, the number of persons unemployed increased by 55,000 in the EU27 and by 45,000 in the euro zone.

The lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4 per cent), Luxembourg and the Netherlands (both 4.9 per cent), and the highest in Spain (22.9 per cent).

In November, 5.579 million people aged under 25 were unemployed in the EU27, of whom 3.394 million were in the euro zone.