BRUSSELS (AP) — Official figures show that retail sales in the 17-country eurozone unexpectedly fell during the crucial month of December, in a further indication that a recession in the single currency bloc may be looming. Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, says Friday that retail sales dropped 0.4 percent during the month, in contrast to expectations for an equivalent increase. However, some of the gloom may be dissipated by the news that retail sales in November only fell by 0.4 percent, half the rate previously projected. Nevertheless, the figures may well reinforce expectations that the eurozone contracted during the fourth quarter of the year in the wake of a confidence-sapping debt crisis. | 
