UK retail sales dip in December
Sales for retailers in the UK saw a dip in sales despite the build-up to Christmas
British shop sales slid by much more than expected in December, capping off the weakest year for retail since 2013 as consumers squeezed by the Brexit hit to prices continued to keep a tight grip on spending.
Retail sales volumes dropped 1.5 percent from November, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, well below economists’ forecasts of a monthly dip of 0.6 percent in a Reuters poll, and more than reversing a 1.0 percent rise in November.
That marked the biggest month-on-month fall since June 2016, the month Britons voted to leave the European Union, as well as the weakest December performance for seven years.
Britain’s economy slowed in 2017 as higher inflation - caused by the post-referendum fall in the pound - hurt the spending power of consumers, although forecasts of a bigger hit to growth were confounded.
Friday’s data pushed the pound down against the dollar and British government bond prices hit a session high.
Published: by Radio NewsHub