Some perhaps encouraging headline data out of the UK, but the details are not so hot. Info via Reuters.
British Retail Consortium data:
- total sales at chain
stores +2.7% y/y in September, from +4.1% in August - like-for-like sales measure – which adjusts for
changes in store space – slowed to show growth of 2.8% from 4.3%
in August - “Sales growth in September slowed as the high cost of living
continues to bear down on households,” BRC Chief Executive Helen
Dickinson said, citing the recent increase in the price of
petrol and diesel as well as a rise in housing costs. - Expensive items such as furniture and electricals performed
particularly poorly while last month’s warm weather hit sales of
autumnal clothing, Dickinson said.
–
Separate data from Barclays showed the pace of annual growth
in the amount of money spent on credit and debit cards increased
to 4.2% in September from August’s 2.8% rise
- the
acceleration was largely due to higher outlays on motor fuel - Jack Meaning, chief UK economist at Barclays, said the
warning signs of wariness among consumers was filtering through
into their spending decisions. “This suggests the outlook for consumers, and the businesses
that rely on them, is weak, even as they finally see their
disposable incomes rise faster than inflation,” Meaning said. “It makes it hard to see anything but a relatively stagnant
economy on the horizon.”