BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Retail sales in the 19 countries sharing the euro fell by 0.2 percent in September from August, the European Union's statistics office Eurostat said on Monday.
It was the second month of falling sales, mainly caused by a drop in sales of non-food products, Eurostat said, with the sharpest declines seen in Germany, Portugal and Slovenia.
Compared to the same month last year, retail sales were up 1.1 percent.
A Reuters poll of 17 economists had produced an average forecast of a decline of 0.3 percent for the monthly and 1.3 percent for the annual figure of the volatile indicator.
On Monday, Eurostat adjusted August's monthly reading to -0.2 percent from -0.1 percent previously, with the yearly number adjusted upwards to 1.2 percent from 0.6 percent.