UK Retail Sales Post Unexpected Rise

Latest data on retail sales from the Office for National Statistics show that retail sales volume in the three months September to November rose by a better-than-expected 0.5% compared with the previous three months, leaving them up 1.5% on the year.

 Total sales volume in the three months
to November was 1.7% higher than the same period a year ago, the
lowest growth since March 2006, when it was 1.6%.
Between October
and November, total sales volume increased by 0.3%. Sales volume in
predominantly food stores rose by 0.2%. Sales volume for
predominantly non-food stores also rose by 0.2%, where the only
positive growth was for household goods stores which rose by 3.9%.
Sales volume for the non-store retailing and repair sector rose by
2.5%.