UK Retail Sales Got Black Friday Boost

December 17, 2015 Share Print 0

Black Friday discounts helped drive a surprise jump in UK retail sales last month, as shoppers splashed out online and in department stores.

Official figures showed retail sales volumes were up 1.7% from the month before, beating forecasts for growth of 0.5% in a Reuters poll of economists. On the year, sales volumes were up 5%, defying the 3% growth forecast.

While much of the volume growth was down to discounting, the amount spent was also up on the year, by 1.4%. Economists said the figures suggested the overall UK economy would end the year on a strong note. The Office for National Statistics said the figures included Black Friday sales on 27 November but not Cyber Monday, on 30 November this year, when online retailers offer discounts.

via The Guardian

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Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse

Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.