18/10/2001

Retail sales report reveals spending slowdown

The latest report on retail sales shows that High Street sales growth slowed in September.

The monthly report produced by the UK Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed that sales grew by a modest 0.2 per cent on the August figures and were up 5.9 per cent on the same period last year.

While welcomed as positive news, after the terrorist attacks on the US and with general uncertainty in the wake of the attacks on Afghanistan, the UK retail sales figures are not as good as some analysts had anticipated. The 0.2 per cent growth indicates a sharp slow down in spending on the High Street and is on the lower side of sales predictions for September.

The report from the ONS revealed a drop in food sales and a rise in clothing sales, but leading analysts are at a loss to explain whether the change in spending patterns represent an actual slowdown in overall consumer spending.

However, taken over three months, a period considered to be a better indicator of consumer trends, there is a strong upward trend in consumer spending of around 6 per cent.

Prior to the release of the retail sale figures for the UK, the London stock market, in an apparent reaction to the anthrax scares in the UK, fell over 90 points in a frantic morning’s trading. (SP)

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