U.K. Retail Sales Rose in November on Food, Clothing, BRC Says

U.K. retail sales climbed in November as higher food-price inflation pushed up values and cold weather boosted demand for clothing and footwear, the British Retail Consortium said.

Sales at stores open at least 12 months, measured by value, rose 0.7 percent from a year earlier, compared with a 0.8 percent gain in October, the London-based BRC said in an e-mailed statement today. Excluding the impact of a sales-tax increase in January, underlying volume sales growth is “virtually zero,” it said.