New figures show a drop in the volume of retail sales in November, though most of the fall was due to weaker motor sales.
The Central Statistics Office said the volume of retail sales fell by 0.6% compared with October, giving an annual rate of growth of 3.9%. Both figures were the weakest recorded so far in 2007.
But the monthly drop would have been only 0.1% if a 4.4% slump in motor sales had been stripped out. The motor sales category includes sales at petrol stations as well as cars.
A breakdown also showed a sharp 5.3% decline in bar sales compared with the previous month.
The CSO figures are adjusted to take seasonal patterns into account.
