The UK retail sales
Commenting on the UK retail sales data, expert from Markit, Chris Williamson, said:
“UK retailers enjoyed the strongest three-month spell of growth for almost two years in the third quarter, but cracks may be appearing in the willingness of consumers to keep spending in the face of rising prices and wider financial worries.
“Retail sales volumes were up 1.8% in the third quarter as a whole, the biggest increase since the final quarter of 2014, suggesting the consumer appears to have provided an important source of growth to the economy in the immediate aftermath of the EU referendum. Compared to the same period of last year, sales were some 5.4% higher. The data add to the increasing body of news which point to the economy having maintained steady, albeit unexciting, growth in the third quarter.
“However, the concern is that we may be starting to see signs that rising inflation, weak pay growth and job insecurity among households are all starting to subdue consumer spending. Sales were flat in both September and August, pointing to a possible fading of sales growth after a decent start to the quarter. Clothing sales suffered in particular in September, down 2.8% on August and down 5.4% on a year ago, potentially due to warm weather meaning people delayed the buying of new autumn seasonal items, though also likely due to rising prices.
“Financial worries rose especially sharply among households where the main earner is employed in the private sector, with government workers perhaps feeling more secure in their jobs due to recent suggestions that government spending may soon start to rise as austerity is reined-back. Private sector employee’s view on their future finances fell to the lowest for three years in October, boding ill for retail sales at the start of the fourth quarter.”
