Retail sales in the euro zone rose in November, data has shown, offering a rare glimmer of good news in a bloc that has slipped into deflation.
The EU's Eurostat statistics agency said retail sales rose by 0.6% in November compared to October, indicating that European shoppers have not yet given in to the gloom made worse by market worries over snap elections this month in Greece.
The news comes a day after the euro zone officially waded into deflation territory with consumer prices falling by 0.2% in December, the first drop since the financial crisis five year ago.
"Consumer spending is one area of the euro zone economy which has shown some signs of life recently," said Howard Archer, chief economist at IHS Global Insight.
Meanwhile, Eurostat also said consumer confidence levels in the euro zone stabilised in December for the second straight month after several months of decline.
"Euro zone sentiment has stabilised after the drop in the summer 2014 due to Russia's aggression in Ukraine, but failed to advance in December," said Christian Schulz of Berenberg Bank.
By country, Spain showed its strongest consumer confidence since June 2007, at the height of the doomed Spanish housing boom.
"It is the only major euro zone country with economic confidence closing in on boom territory," Schulz said.
Bailed out Portugal and Cyprus also showed solid leaps in confidence, but Greece plummeted amid uncertainty over upcoming elections that could see anti-bailout leftists take the helm of the government.
"The new political crisis looks likely to at least interrupt the recovery and has the potential to throw Greece into another deep crisis if Syriza wins and implements its most radical economic policies," Schulz said.
Eurostat also announced that industrial production prices slipped 0.3% in November, predictably in line with the deflation data a day earlier.
In a deflationary spiral, businesses and households delay purchases, throttling demand and triggering job losses and recession.
