UK retail sales declined unexpectedly in November as the rising cost of living and weak consumer sentiment dragged down consumer spending.
Retail sales volume fell 0.4 percent from October, when turnover was up by revised 0.9 percent, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Friday. Sales were expected to gain 0.3 percent.
Sales excluding auto fuel decreased 0.3 percent, in contrast to the 0.7 percent rise in October and economists' forecast of +0.3 percent. On a yearly basis, retail sales including auto fuel logged a fall of 5.9 percent, the same pace of decline as seen in October. This was bigger than the 5.6 percent decrease expected by economists.
Sales, excluding auto fuel also posted an annual drop of 5.9 percent, after easing 6.4 percent in the previous month. Core sales were seen falling 5.8 percent.
The rise in food stores sales volume was offset by falls in the other major sectors. Sales of predominantly food stores rebounded 0.9 percent because of customers stocking up early for Christmas.
Non-store retailing decreased 2.8 percent as people could return to shopping in stores as the wider economy reopened. Non-food store sales decreased 0.6 percent and auto fuel sales were down 1.7 percent, data showed.
A survey conducted by the market research group GfK showed that consumer confidence improved in December but remained near record low as soaring prices and fears of prolonged recession hit household finances.
The consumer sentiment index improved to -42.0 in December from -44 in November. The reading was better than economists' forecast of -43.
