UK retail sales fall sharply

Reuters
Pedestrians walk past the Piccadilly Circus advertisement screens in London on October 26, 2017. Retail sales in the UK dropped in October at the fastest pace since 2009, a CBI survey showed. (AFP / Tolga Akmen)

LONDON: British retail sales plummeted in October at the fastest pace since early 2009, when Britain was last mired in recession, a Confederation of British Industry survey showed on Thursday.
The CBI’s monthly retail sales balance slid to -36 from September’s two-year high of +42, marking its lowest level since March 2009.
The reading was far below even the lowest forecast in a Reuters poll of economists, most of whom expected a reasonably modest slowdown in growth.
While the CBI survey is volatile month-to-month, the three-month average balance for reported retail sales sank to -1 from +18 in September. “It’s clear retailers are beginning to really feel the pinch from higher inflation,” said Rain Newton-Smith, the CBI’s chief economist.
“While retail sales can be volatile from month to month, the steep drop in sales in October echoes other recent data pointing to a marked softening in consumer demand,” she added.
The Brexit vote in June 2016 led to a big fall in the value of sterling, which has pushed up inflation, gnawing at consumers’ disposable income this year.