Urgent.. Retail sales in the Eurozone fell below expectations in December.

The European Union's statistics office (Eurostat) released retail sales data for the Eurozone for the month of December on Thursday, which came in negative and worse than market expectations.

According to the data, retail sales in the Eurozone recorded a growth of 1.2% in December compared to the same month last year, which was lower than the previous reading that showed a growth of 2.1% in retail sales during November, after being revised upward from 1.9%.

On a monthly basis, retail sales in the Eurozone experienced a growth of 0.1%, which was below market expectations that predicted a growth of 0.4%. The previous reading for October had shown a contraction in retail sales in the Eurozone of 0.3%.

The retail sales index measures the change in the total value of retail sales within the Eurozone, reflecting a clear picture of the retail sector in the short term, which represents about 5% of the total value added to the economies of the Eurozone. Generally, a high reading is viewed as bullish for the euro movements, while a low reading is seen as bearish for the single European currency.