French Shoppers to Reduce Christmas Budget, Study Shows

French shoppers plan to cut their Christmas-season spending, joining Italians and Greeks in reducing purchases as unemployment in the euro region lingers at record highs, a study by Deloitte LLP shows.

The French will spend 0.9 percent less on average than last year celebrating the late-December holiday, while Italian buyers will scale back their budget for the season by 2.4 percent and Greeks by almost 13 percent, according to a poll taken in mid-September of more than 17,000 consumers in 18 countries. Germans, Russians and Spaniards are among consumers who will spend more this year.