British retail sales suffered an unexpectedly sharp slowdown in September, dragging quarterly growth to its weakest annual rate since 2013, suggesting consumer demand remains uncertain as the Bank of England nears its first-rate rise in a decade.
Retail sales volumes fell 0.8 percent in September, the Office for National Statistics said this morning, reversing a jump in August and undershooting all economists’ forecasts in a poll. Third-quarter growth slowed to a year-on-year rate of 1.5 percent, its lowest since the second quarter of 2013.
Last month the BoE said it was likely to raise interest rates in the coming months if the economy and inflation pressures strengthen as expected. Markets see a roughly 80 percent chance of a move on Nov. 2 after the BoE’s next meeting.
Pound is lower across the board this morning.