Europe Retail Sales Decline Most in Almost a Year on Oil

European retail sales declined the most in almost a year in March as higher oil prices and government austerity measures curbed consumer spending.

Sales in the 17-nation euro region fell 1 percent from the previous month after a revised 0.3 percent increase in February, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. That’s the biggest drop since April 2010 and exceeded the 0.1 percent decline projected by economists, according to the median of 15 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. March sales dropped 1.7 percent from a year earlier.