Retail sales rose by much less than expected in the festive season, marking the weakest November-to-December rise since 2007 and the lowest annual rise for the month since 1998.
Total retail sales volumes rose by just 0.3 per cent in December, compared with the previous month, according to The Office for National Statistics. Analysts had forecast a rise of almost three times as much.
Compared with the same month the previous year, volume was up 2.1 per cent in December, led by sales at food-based stores, which increased by 2.8 per cent. Sales at non-food stores rose by just 0.7 per cent.
source: Times Online
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Alfonso Esparza