Retailers in the euro zone last year saw demand pick up in November even though the bloc had slid into recession in the third quarter, official EU data show.
The volume of retail sales in the euro zone rose 0.6% in November over one month, limiting the fall over one year to 1.5%, the European Union's Eurostat data agency said.
The result exceeded economists expectations for retail sales to rise only 0.2% over one month. However, the fall over one year was marginally bigger than the 1.4% forecast over one year.
The figures also marked an improvement from October when retail sales fell 1% over one month and dropped 2.3% over one year, according to revised Eurostat figures.
In the 27 nation-EU, retail sales rose 0.3% in November from October and fell 1.5% over one year.
