New figures from Eurostat have revealed that retail sales in the seventeen countries using the euro fell sharply in September, the first negative figure since May. While sales slipped 0.7% across the eurozone, Germany did in fact record a 0.4% rise.

The news has led to renewed concerns over recession, especially alongside fears that Italy could be the next debt crisis victim after the country's borrowing  costs reached a new high in eurozone history. Not surprisingly the figures show continued uncertainty for eurozone countries and possible contraction in the fourth quarter.

Interestingly, the sharpest increases in retail sales were actually in non-eurozone members - Poland (2.4%), Britain (1.0%) and Latvia (0.9%).