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German retail sales see surprising drop, spur fears of recession

Retail sales in September dropped by 3.2 percent from August, the biggest drop since May 2007, which is spurring fears of a recession in Europe's leading economy, according to Reuters.

October 31, 2014

Retail sales in Germany last month saw their biggest decline in nearly a decade, according to Reuters. 

September's retail numbers showed the biggest monthly drop in more than seven years., according to data released today from the Federal Statistics Office.

Retail sales in September dropped by 3.2 percent from August, the biggest drop since May 2007, Reuters said.

"A drop had been expected after the strong August, but not this kind of dramatic fall. It's bad because it makes a recession in Germany more likely," Holger Sandte, an economist at Nordea Bank, told the news service.