UK Retail Sales Fall More Than Expected

(RTTNews) - UK retail sales declined more than expected in October as consumers reduced their spending on food and clothing, data released by the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday.

Retail sales dropped 0.7 percent on a monthly basis in October, in contrast to the revised 0.1 percent rise in September. Sales were expected to fall 0.3 percent.

Excluding auto fuel, retail sales posted a decline of 0.9 percent after a 0.1 percent gain. Economists forecast sales to drop 0.3 percent.

Non-food stores sales volumes decreased 1.4 percent as retailers reported that Budget uncertainty affected sales. Food store sales were down 0.6 percent, while auto fuel sales rebounded 0.6 percent. Year-on-year, retail sales growth eased to 2.4 percent in October from 3.2 percent in September.

Excluding auto fuel, retail sales growth slowed to 2.0 percent from 3.2 percent in the previous month.

Capital Economics' economist Ashley Webb said the bigger-than-expected fall in retail sales indicates that households' concerns about tax rises announced in the Autumn Budget contributed to weaker retail spending at the start of the fourth quarter.

Elsewhere, survey results from the market research group GfK showed that consumer confidence ticked up in November ahead of the shopping season. Moreover, concerns about the impact of the UK budget and the US presidential election eased.

The consumer confidence index rose to -18 in November from -21 in October as all five sub-indices of the index were up from the previous month.