UK's September retail sales weaker than expected

Retail sales volumes in September were flat compared with the previous month, but weaker than the market expectations for a rise of 0.5 percent, according to the data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in London on Thursday.

The data have stagnated for the second month. But compared with the same period of last year, the retail sales witnessed an annual growth of 2.4 percent, also below analysts' forecast of 2.8 percent.

The ONS said that non-food sales were also unchanged on the month, but rose 1.1 percent from a year earlier. Food sales declined 0.1 percent on the month, but had an annual growth of 2.8percent. The sales of textile, clothing and footwear fell 0.5 percent on the month, but the sales of department stores were up by 0.5 percent.

According to the ONS, the sales of household goods rose by 0.3 percent on the month, taking the annual decline to 0.9 percent, the smallest decline since December 2008.

Britain's economic recovery will not be driven by consumer expenditure, but mainly by net trade, said the National Institute of Economic and Social Research recently.

Source:Xinhua