UK retail sales contracted sharply in December. Headline sales dropped -0.8% mom versus expectation of 0.8% rise. Ex-fuel sales dropped -0.6% mom versus expectation of 0.5% rise. “Anecdotal evidence from a number of stores stated that goods did not sell as well as expected,” the ONS said.
In the three months to December, both the amount spent and quantity bought decline, by -0.9% and -1.0% respectively. More importantly, from three-month to three-month respectively, sales hasn’t grown since October.
Eurozone CPI finalized at 1.3% in Dec, services inflation led
Eurozone CPI was finalized at 1.3% yoy in December, up from November’s 1.0% yoy. the highest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate came from services (+0.80%), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.38%), non-energy industrial goods (+0.12%) and energy (+0.02%).
EU inflation was at 1.6%, up from 1.3% yoy a month ago. The lowest annual rates were registered in Portugal (0.4%), Italy (0.5%) and Cyprus (0.7%). The highest annual rates were recorded in Hungary (4.1%), Romania (4.0%), Czechia and Slovakia (both 3.2%). Compared with November, annual inflation fell in two Member States, remained stable in three and rose in twenty-three.
Full release here.