Spain retail sales decimated by VAT hike - Yahoo! Finance
Spanish retail sales fell at their fastest pace on record in
September as already battered consumer confidence took another hit from a
hike in value added tax, driving many shoppers to trade down to cheaper
products.
Sales fell 10.9 percent year on year, Monday's National
Statistics Institute data showed, reflecting an economy struggling
through its second recession in three years and plagued by chronically
high unemployment.
The drop was the biggest in calendar-adjusted terms
since current records began in January 2004, and marked the 27th monthly
decline in a row.
Spain has been in recession since the first quarter of
the year and is not likely to grow again until late in 2013, according
to official estimates that many economists consider optimistic.
The country had the highest unemployment rate in the European Union in August - 25.1 percent - according to EU data.
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