Christmas cheer for shoppers?

December 01, 2008

German shoppers aren't letting recession scare them away from stores in the run-up to Christmas, but the sales outlook for 2009 remains cloudy. Retail sales in Europe's biggest economy rose slightly during October, up 0.4 percent from September, as sales including those of cars and fuel at gas stations were up. But while this may help offset the impact of slackening exports for now, unemployment is expected to rise and next year's outlook is gloomy. Joanna Partridge reports for Reuters