UK retail sales flat in September
UK retail sales were flat in September, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics on Thursday.
Retail sales were steady on the month, which was an improvement on the 0.3% decline seen in August and in line with expectations.
On the year, retail sales rose 3.1%, up from 2.6% growth in August but a touch below expectations for a 3.2% increase.
ONS head of retail sales Rhian Murphy said: "Retail sales growth remained steady in the latest three months, following strong summer online sales. Food shops bounced back after a weak few months, but there was yet more bad news for department stores with sales continuing to fall in September."
Ruth Gregory, senior UK economist at Capital Economics, said: "September’s retail sales figures were perhaps a bit of a relief given the intense Brexit uncertainty, but were hardly a picture of strength.
"There was little evidence that sales are being boosted by households stockpiling ahead of Brexit. Food sales rose by a modest 0.6% month-on-month in September. Clothing sales increased by 1.0% m/m perhaps as a result of the unusually wet weather in September prompting consumers to stock up on winter clothing. In fact, the weakness was concentrated largely in a 2.0% m/m plunge in fuel sales. Excluding fuel, retail sales rose by a healthier 0.2% m/m."
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the unchanged level of retail sales volumes in September is another good result, given the pronounced weakness of the timelier retail surveys and above-average temperatures during the month, which usually would depress demand for clothing.
"Looking ahead, slowdowns in both employment and wage growth look set to hinder growth in spending. Nonetheless, consumers’ confidence is stable at its long-run average, CPI inflation is low, and growth in unsecured credit now has stabilised at a sustainable rate," he said.
"Falling mortgage rates also are supporting house prices and releasing more income for households to spend on discretionary purchases. In addition, fiscal policy looks set to boost disposable incomes in 2020, whichever party is in power. Accordingly, we still think that households can be relied upon to keep the economy growing at close to its trend rate over the coming quarters, even if the Brexit saga carries on."