Reported today on City AM For the full article visit:
The amount of goods sold in UK shops unexpectedly fell in October, official figures have shown, in the latest sign that the economy is slowing.Retail sales dropped 0.1 per cent last month compared to September when sales stagnated, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Economists had been expecting a 0.2 per cent increase.In the three months to October, retail sales grew 0.2 per cent compared with the previous three months, the lowest growth since April 2018.“Retail sales increased at a slower rate in the latest three months, with growth the weakest seen since April of last year,” an ONS spokesperson said. “All main sectors saw falling sales apart from food shops.”A series of data releases this week have indicated that the UK economy is losing momentum. Economic growth slowed to its slowest annual rate in nearly a decade in the third quarter, while the employment market shed 58,000 jobs.Consumer spending has been a strong point in 2019 while business investment and manufacturing have suffered under Brexit uncertainty. Today’s figures indicate it is slowing, however.Online sales continued to grow as a proportion of all retailing. They increased to 19.2 per cent in October from 19 per cent in September.Meanwhile, department stores reported their strongest month-on-month growth this year, with the quantity of goods bought increasing two per cent.“Feedback from retailers suggested that increased promotions had boosted performance,” the ONS said. “There was also evidence of retailers bringing forward the sale of Christmas product lines to earlier in November than in previous years.”More to follow.
0 Comments