LONDON: U.K. retail sales fell in January, a trade group survey showed Tuesday, adding to signs that Britons may be starting to watch their pennies amid rising inflation. The British Retail Consortium said that like-for-like sales, a measure which strips out changes in the number of retailers and floor space, fell 0.6% on the year in the four-week period from Jan. 1 to Jan. 28. Total sales rose by merely 0.1% compared with the same period last year, the BRC said. Both readings were significantly weaker than the previous month, when they stood at 1.0% and 1.7%, respectively.
“These figures suggest that ‘caution’ was top of new year shopping lists,” said Helen Dickinson, the BRC’s chief executive. Official data showed that retail sales in December fell at the fastest monthly pace in almost five years, as annual inflation accelerated to an over-two-year-high of 1.6%. Following the pound’s steep devaluation in the wake of the June 23 Brexit vote, the Bank of England now expects inflation to exceed its 2% target in 2017.
